There seems to be no end to the craze around pop icon Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour.
Now, a German city will rename itself temporarily after the singing sensation ahead of her three shows in July.
According to reports, Gelsenkirchen will temporarily be named Swiftkirchen for her concert.
Swift will tour the city and perform on July 17, 18, and 19 at the Veltins-Arena on Schalke stadium as part of her popular Eras Tour.
According to reports, the idea of changing the name was first suggested by local fan Aleshanee Westhoff, who petitioned city Mayor Karin Welge over the issue a few weeks ago.
A community page named Gerne Gelsenkirchen posted on Instagram: “The city of Gelsenkirchen and we (city marketing) are really looking forward to US mega-star #taylorswift and the tens of thousands of #swifties who are expected to attend the three concerts in the arena from July 17th to 19th.”
“The first visible sign is now the ‘renaming’ of Gelsenkirchen to ‘#swiftkirchen’. ‘Swiftie’ Aleshanee Westhoff from #emmerich started a petition about this in the past few weeks and wrote to Mayor Karin Welge. We had the same idea, so it quickly became clear that we would do it together.”
The community page said the first sign to the town of ‘Swiftkirchen’ was symbolically installed by Alshanee Westhoff on Ebertstrasse.
Taylor Swift will also receive her own stone on the Gelsenkirchen Walk of Fame, alongside local notables like soccer coach Rudi Assauer and writer Ilse Kibgis, reported Business Today.
Gelsenkirchen is the 25th-most populous city in Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants.
On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies at the centre of the Ruhr area, the largest urban area of Germany, of which it is the fifth-largest city after Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and Bochum.
