Police arrest “stalker” at the start of the German tour – DW – 18.07.2024

Police in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany, arrested a suspected stalker of Taylor Swift on Wednesday evening before the first German date of the US singer’s “Eras Tour”.

Authorities said Thursday morning that event organizers had informed police of the threats against the 34-year-old star, but did not provide further details.

Around 60,000 fans – known as “Swifties” – attended the first of three concerts in the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, which, according to police, was peaceful.

After the concert, police responded to an emergency call from a 70-year-old man in the Gelsenkirchen suburb of Erle, which borders the arena. When they arrived, they heard loud bangs. The officers determined that the man was mentally ill and took him to hospital, a spokeswoman said.

Part of a main road was cordoned off, but the exact cause of the noise was unclear.

Apart from two traffic jams on a nearby highway, police reported no other problems.

Taylor Swift greets fans in German

After concerts in France, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy in the European leg of her record-breaking tour, Swift took the stage in Gelsenkirchen and greeted her fans in German:

“Welcome to the Eras Tour!” she said. “Nice to see you!” she added to great cheers.

In English she promised: “It won’t be long before I come back.”

Swift, who last toured Germany nine years ago, will perform two more concerts in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday and Friday nights before appearing in Hamburg on July 23 and 24 and in Munich on July 27 and 28.

Gelsenkirchen is now called “Swiftkirchen”

The working-class city of Gelsenkirchen in the heart of the former industrial Ruhr area may not have the glamour of Hamburg, Munich or other major European cities, but it does have one of the largest and most modern arenas in Germany.

The Veltins Arena is normally home to the popular German football club Schalke 04, which regularly plays in front of 61,000 spectators. However, the pitch can be closed off for concerts and other events.

The arena also hosted four games at the recent European Championships in Germany – but local authorities were criticized for poor organization, which led to transport chaos.

And so local officials were determined to put on a better show for the 200,000 “Swifties” expected to descend on the city of 260,000 this week.

Cheerleaders greeted fans at the city’s main train station and Swift was inducted into the “Gelsenkirchen Walk of Fame” by laying a paving stone in her honor.

The city even temporarily renamed itself and had the name “Swiftkirchen” on several street signs – which, however, was not well received by all residents and some, namely local football fans, covered the signs with Schalke stickers.

mf/fb (AFP, dpa)