German City Renames Itself In Honor Of Taylor Swift; Swifties Thrilled, Post Office Workers Likely Less So
Move over, Munich.
Take a backseat, Berlin.
Pound sand, Stuttgart.
There’s a new German city on the map and it’s named after Taylor Swift… for a couple of weeks.
According to the Associated Press, the popstar will be the temporary namesake for Gelsenkirchen where she’ll perform three shows later this month and throughout the duration of those shows, the city will be known as "Swiftkirchen."
That translates to "Swift’s Church," and believe it or not, there's already one of those in Germany.
Taylor Swift could be approaching David Hasselhoff-levels of fame in Germany.
The German city of Gelsenkirchen will temporarily take on the name "Swiftkirchen" after Taylor Swift. (Getty Images)
I find this odd because Germany has a rich musical history. From Beethoven to the Beatles' famous residency in Hamburg to Scorpions to Kraftwerk to Nena (99 Luftballons) to Rammstein, yet none of them have had cities named after them.
…Alright, technically there’s a place called "Ramstein" (one M) but that’s where the band got its name and not the other way around.
I mean "Beatleburg" and "Kraftwerkkirchen" have nice rings to them.
But alas, it’s Taylor Swift who’s getting the honor, and it shows once again the power of her fame. She conquered the NFL and now she’s conquering a German city… for a couple of weeks.
Surely de Swifties who are flocking to ̶G̶e̶l̶s̶e̶n̶k̶i̶r̶c̶h̶e̶n̶ Swiftkirchen — one of the nation's poorest cities after having played a large role in the coal industry — but it makes me wonder if the city's postal workers are gearing up for some headaches.
Teenage Swiftie Aleshanee Westhoff is behind the idea of changing the town's name, which she presented to the mayor and then passed around a petition. It's nice to see an enterprising youngster following through on an idea, even if that idea is naming your city after Taylor Swift, something that will no doubt confuse the hell out of some of the city's older residents.