Germany The city of Gelsenkirchen was changed to “Swiftkirchen” by the authorities during Taylor Swift’s concert in July.
According to People on July 3, a fan named Aleshannee Westhoff wrote a letter to the local government, hoping the authorities would change the city’s name in a short time to respond to The Eras Tour. The concert in Gleisenkirchen will take place from July 17 to 19, at the Veltins-Arena stadium.
On the city’s website, mayor Karin Welgen commented that this is a great idea. He called Taylor Swift the most successful singer in the world today and felt very happy that she would hold three concerts here. “International media will pay a lot of attention to our city,” Welgen said.
The news site said that the government is currently erecting signs bearing the name “Swiftkerchin” everywhere, decorating trains in Taylor Swift’s colors, and placing a stone to pay tribute to the singer on the local Walk of Fame. Closer to the show date, the city will hold a large outdoor party with the theme “Taylor Town” and many artist-related entertainment activities.
Markus Schwardtmann – head of public relations at Gelsenkirchen – said more signs will be installed in crowded locations. “There will be many big and small surprises waiting for the Swifties community to discover,” he added.
Before Gelsenkirchen, two places in the US changed their names to welcome Taylor Swift and her visiting fan community. In March 2023, the city of Glendeale – the first stop of The Eras Tour – became “Swift City” during the two days of the concert. Four months later, the city of Santa Clara, California was changed to “Swiftie Clara”. Taylor Swift also became “honorary mayor” for holding a concert here.
Taylor Swift , 35 years old, is an American singer-songwriter, who rose to fame with country music in 2006. After 10 albums, Taylor received 14 Grammy awards and 29 Billboard awards. In December 2023, Guinness recognized the artist’s The Eras Tour as the highest-grossing tour of all time, reaching more than one billion USD. She currently has a net worth of about 1.1 billion USD, and was chosen by Time as Person of the Year 2023.
She restarted The Eras Tour after releasing the album The Tortured Poets Department on April 19. Taylor just finished the Irish leg last weekend, preparing to perform the next three shows in the Netherlands. She will come to Gelsenkirchen after completing her tour in Milan.
