In Friedberg, Elvis Presley is still the king of the rock. The small German town where Elvis Presley did his military service between 1958 and 1960 comes to refine its status as a place of worship of the King of Las Vegas in the country by installing three pedestrian lights to his portrait. In green, we can recognize the silhouette of the singer of hits such as Love me tender or Return to sender due to its hipped legendary, while in the red, he takes the pose behind a microphone stand.

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The lights were installed on a square gate since 1995 the name of the star who died in Memphis in 1977. Because it’s been a long time that Friedberg, who has hosted a military barracks of the american army, has figured out what mine could represent the worship of the King. A statue on a roundabout at the entrance of the city sets the tone: “Home military Elvis Presley”, ” can we read behind a representation of the rocker, guitar raised at the foot.

Elvis Presley, Beethoven and Karl Marx When Elvis grabs the microphone, it is best to avoid crossing the floor. YANN SCHREIBER/AFP

“Elvis has a special place here, and so it is honored”, explains to the AFP an inhabitant, Heidi Huebner, after having taken the new lights in a photo with his cell phone. “Elvis is a part of Friedberg”, ” chimes in another, Kim Röder, before you cross the street of this city close to Frankfurt.

If the military base from the inventor of the “Jailhouse rock” was in Friedberg, he lived in Bad Nauheim, a few kilometres away, where fans submit still today regularly candles and small gifts for their idol in front of a memorial. It is here that the king of rock, died unexpectedly at the age of 42, met his wife Priscilla. The wedding had been celebrated in 1967 in the United States, but the marriage lasted only six years.

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An association to the memory of the crooner is active since 1998 in both cities and organizes every year a birthday party for Elvis as well as a festival Presley, bringing together thousands of fans.

Friedberg is not the first German city to install lights original tribute to a famous inhabitant. Bonn is in particular offered the face of Beethoven at a few intersections, and Trier (Trier) to Karl Marx for the 200th anniversary of the philosopher with the beard. And several cities have also displayed same-sex couples on the occasion of the days of the “gay pride”.

In Berlin, the most famous of these figurines lights is anonymous. The “Ampelmännchen”, or “little man of light”, is wearing a wide hat and a native of the former GDR. It has gained its popularity in the 1990s, after having survived the reunification of the country by being worn by “Ostalgie”, the nostalgia of the time of the Germany of the East. And it is now available in candy, key chains or coffee mugs.