When Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour first kicked off last year, many U.S. cities tried to one-up each other by renaming themselves in honor of the event. Now Europe is getting in on the action.
A city in Germany named Gelsenkirchen has temporarily renamed itself “Swiftkirchen” before Taylor does three shows there starting on July 17. The idea came from a local Swiftie named Aleshanee Westhoff, who started a petition suggesting the renaming and also wrote to the mayor asking for the change. The mayor subsequently thanked the fan for the “great idea.”
The first sign marking the entrance to the city was installed by Aleshanee on Tuesday, and the head of the city’s PR department said that “many more signs” will be installed leading up to Taylor’s shows. Taylor will also receive a plaque on the city’s Walk of Fame, and there’s a “Taylor Swift tram” currently operating on the road.
By the way, “kirchen” means “churches” in German, so the city is now technically named “Swiftchurches” — fitting, perhaps, for all the fans who will come to “worship” their queen at the city’s arena.
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