This European city is changing its name for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour

The power she has...

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour - Sao Paulo, Brazil
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Taylor Swift is so powerful that multiple cities have now changed their names when she has passed through town with her blockbusting Eras Tour.

The latest spot to get in on the fun is Gelsenkirchen in Germany, whose mayor has agreed to temporarily rename the city Swiftkirchen while the popstar is in town — between 17 and 19 July.

Even sweeter is the story behind the move: young Swiftie Aleshanee Westhoff actually started a petition for the renaming and wrote to Mayor Karin Welge to make it happen.

The mayor thought it was a great initiative, and ~swiftly~ agreed. "It's a great idea to temporarily rename Gelsenkirchen to 'Swiftkirchen,' which is why I'm particularly pleased that you can experience the short-term 'renaming' of Gelsenkirchen live and up close in Gelsenkirchen today," the mayor said in a letter to Aleshanee (as described on the city's official website).

To mark the move, a first sign has been placed in the city that reads "Swiftkirchen" with Taylor's face on it, plus symbols related to her Eras. More signs will be placed in high-traffic areas soon.

But the city's officials haven't stopped at the renaming: they're so excited about the idea that they're also hosting a big outdoor Taylor Swift party for fans who weren't lucky enough to nab tickets to the event.

"As mayor, I am of course very happy that Taylor Swift, currently the most successful singer in the world, will be performing three times in Gelsenkirchen," said Mayor Welge. "International attention will therefore be back on our city immediately after EURO 2024."

The UK's own Liverpool made a similar move when Taylor performed there in June, temporarily renaming itself "Taylor Town," as did Glendale, Arizona (Swift City), a street in Arlington, Texas (Taylor Swift Way), and Minneapolis, Minnesota (Swiftie-apolis), among others, per Billboard.

Taylor fever is real, people.

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Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.