Swifties Are Flocking to this German Museum
The Museum Wiesbaden said it saw a surge in visitors hoping to glimpse the artwork that may have inspired Taylor Swift's latest music video.
A museum in Germany is reportedly experiencing a surge in visitors after Taylor Swift released a music video that apparently references a painting in its collection.
Monopol reported that visitors flocked to the Museum Wiesbaden over the weekend to view Friedrich Wilhelm Theodor Heyser’s “Ophelia” (1900), which portrays the titular subject in a supine position, wearing a white, flowing dress, presumably drowning herself in a stream, as in the plot of the Shakespearean tragedy. A spokesperson for Museum Weisbaden told Hyperallergic that 500 guests visited the museum just to see the painting over the weekend, an increase they attributed to the Taylor Swift video release.
The German artist's rendition of Ophelia is eerily similar to one of the first scenes of Swift's music video for "The Fate of Ophelia," the lead track of her newest album, The Life of a Showgirl. The singer appears in a framed image lying in a stream with an arm outstretched, the same gesture as in Heyser's painting; her gaze, like in the artwork, is downcast.
She then rises and steps out of the frame in the music video in a nod to her on-the-nose lyric, "You dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia." The video has garnered nearly 63 million views in nine days and is currently the number one trending music video on YouTube.
Swift's new album cover also features the singer half-submerged, evoking John Everett Millais's "Ophelia" (1851–52), held in the collection of the Tate Museum in London.
The Museum Weisbaden spokesperson told Hyperallergic that they knew of several American guests who visited the collection this past weekend, and noted that the United States military operates a large military garrison in Weisbaden dubbed "our home in Germany."
The museum told the magazine that it has reached out to Swift to invite her to see the painting, but has not heard back.
Perhaps no other contemporary musician could get away with melding an art historical reference and the lyrics "pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes" in the same song.
Editor's note 10/16/25 11 am ET: This article was updated with quotes from a Wiesbaden Museum spokesperson.
