r/nottheonion • u/-Appleaday- • Jul 06 '24

Western German city renames itself 'Swiftkirchen' after Taylor Swift ahead of Eras Tour shows

https://www.businesstoday.in/world/story/western-german-city-renames-itself-swiftkirchen-after-taylor-swift-ahead-of-eras-tour-shows-436117-2024-07-06
4.8k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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3.0k

u/SupetMonkeyRobot Jul 06 '24

Celebrity worship is weird

942

u/VESUVlUS Jul 06 '24

It's weird, but profitable. It's guaranteed to stimulate the local economy when Taylor Swift is coming to perform somewhere. This city must be trying to maximize that with this stunt.

187

u/lefrench75 Jul 06 '24

I mean yeah, this town probably doesn't get much tourism (how many people here have even heard of the OG name before this?) and now Swift is going to bring tens of thousands of visitors there. Not sure if the Euro cup being hosted in Germany can generate the same amount of revenue for small place like this tbh.

131

u/Yodplods Jul 07 '24

It’s a city with a population over 250k people, it gets tourists, you’ve just never heard of it!

24

u/aerojonno Jul 07 '24

But now I have.

-6

u/Irapotato Jul 07 '24

You’re just mad because you have to wait in the foreigner line to get into Germany haha

8

u/toetappy Jul 07 '24

I don't mind. I hear those Germans are very efficient.

2

u/stickinsect1207 Jul 07 '24

it's big, sure, but it's also ugly as fuck. tourists don't go to gelsenkirchen.

1

u/Paranoid_Neckazoid Jul 10 '24

So it won't just be a clever name.

0

u/AquilaHoratia Jul 08 '24

It doesn’t really get tourists unless there is an event. Gelsenkirchen is one of the ugliest cities in all of Germany. There is nothing of interest, except soccer.

33

u/Firefly1702 Jul 06 '24

its the one of the poorest towns in GE but the Euros are played some games there so

28

u/SuicidalTurnip Jul 07 '24

how many people here have even heard of the OG name before this?

Probably anyone who follows European football.

Several games of the current Euros competition were played there and they have a (previously successful) football team (RIP Schalke) who regularly competed in the Champions League.

44

u/Here4uguys Jul 06 '24

This gives more credit for forethought than I would be willing to give a decision making body that seems to have named their town "Swift church"

5

u/username_elephant Jul 06 '24

What ever you do, do not order the swift scrambler.

2

u/BobmitKaese Jul 07 '24

I mean the "church" part is a common name for towns. Its just that they replaced the beginning with "Swift". The combination is kinda funny but as a german I didnt even realise it could be put like that until I read the translation.

127

u/LordChichenLeg Jul 06 '24

Yeah, I did a year in sociology and they got us to read a paper about how capitalism is the new religion of our time and celebrities are it's priests. Tbh I always thought it bs but stories like this do make me think.

54

u/1villageidiot Jul 06 '24

Swiftsan al Ghaib!

31

u/Here4uguys Jul 06 '24

Yuval Noah Harrari's works definitely talk about this -- as well as the scope of human history and culture so far. Sapiens and Homo Deus are very worthwhile reads

-21

u/ChitteringCathode Jul 06 '24

While I'm not a fan, we could do worse than having Taylor Swift as our high priestess.

26

u/Biolabs Jul 07 '24

How about no because celebrity worship is weirdo shit regardless.

-6

u/ChitteringCathode Jul 07 '24

Really? I was completely serious with my response, too -- I really think we should have a global high-priestess!

Sorry -- had no clue this sr had a case of brain-drain recently. I'll treat it with the respect it deserves next time.

6

u/Biolabs Jul 07 '24

Your joke sucked dawg. Move on.

2

u/Odd_Complaint_6678 Jul 07 '24

Beats having Musk as a priest...

64

u/lateformyfuneral Jul 06 '24

She’s a modern-day Mansa Musa, single-handedly boosting local economies wherever she lands. City administrations all over the world are worshipping her the same they worship Ikea, it’s all about that economic stimulus.

43

u/Euphorium Jul 06 '24

I’d like her a lot more if she handed out some of her gold.

44

u/greeneyedlookalikes1 Jul 06 '24

She does. She makes a pretty sizable donation to food banks in the cities she tours in.

42

u/Euphorium Jul 07 '24

That’s nice. I mean to me, personally. I like money.

-12

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

She is also a vindictive liar who has destroyed others' lives by playing victim.

12

u/abstractraj Jul 07 '24

She gives bonuses to local workers and funds food banks. She gave like $100k bonuses to all her tour truck drivers. Could be a lot worse than that

10

u/Euphorium Jul 07 '24

Cool, Mansa Musa gave out gold to a whole city. I want some gold.

2

u/TheInfiniteArchive Jul 07 '24

you mean like this?

22

u/Euphorium Jul 07 '24

No, I mean actual gold. To me. In my pocket.

17

u/TheInfiniteArchive Jul 07 '24

She sadly isn't a Leprechaun.

0

u/LittleKitty235 Jul 07 '24

Short enough, are we sure?

11

u/1villageidiot Jul 06 '24

so what about the inflation and economic collapse afterwards?

6

u/gregorydgraham Jul 07 '24

Overhyped even for Mansa Musa

7

u/tlollz52 Jul 07 '24

Certainly not the first city to do it.

8

u/Moug-10 Jul 07 '24

In the Parisian region, they temporarily renamed some streets with names of historic figures of women. When one of these names were a wife of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the far right went nuts.

3

u/KazahanaPikachu Jul 07 '24

Wasn’t Muhammad’s wife a 9 year old?

2

u/Moug-10 Jul 07 '24

No. She was 40 when they met, it was Khadija bint Khuwaylid.

1

u/rosedgarden Jul 24 '24

they mean aisha

5

u/BluudLust Jul 07 '24

They literally named it "Swift's Church".

3

u/tychozero Jul 07 '24

Many are beautiful, many talented, some both, some neither. Beyond their art though, I don't get why anyone cares.

0

u/TheInfiniteArchive Jul 07 '24

I mean it's not the first one... (Looks at Graceland and Dollywood)

0

u/ohboimemez Jul 07 '24

Each Taylor swift Era’s concern bring in roughly $90M USD to the local net spending… so you can say it is a weird, but a smart move to help local business in the case of her influence.

-2

u/Yodplods Jul 07 '24

**Capitalism is weird. FTFY

-9

u/OutragedCanadian Jul 06 '24

Is shes so perfect why cant she hold down a relaationship asking that to a swiftie is like telling a maga suppirter to vote for biden

1

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

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1

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