In German Town, ‘King of Rock-and-Roll’ Tells You When to Stop and Go

The city that housed Elvis Presley during his US Army draft days in the late ‘50s had the star take post – traffic post, that is – on at least three street corners earlier in December.

Pedestrians around the German city of Friedberg will be doing the "Jailhouse Rock" if they don't obey "the King" as new traffic lights in the town pay tribute to the music legend.

Friedberg, located north of Frankfurt, housed the US Army's Ray Barracks from 1956 until its eventual deactivation in 2007. The base would gain notoriety as the duty station of heartthrob-turned-draftee Elvis Presley from 1958 to 1960.

The late rock-and-roll musician can now be seen once again on three pedestrian traffic lights in Friedberg's aptly named "Elvis Presley Platz" (or square).

One knows to boogie across the street when the green-lit stencil of Presley hitting the classic "windmill" move is present. However, hound dogs better halt when the star is glowing red at the mic stand.

Though the designs seem simple and on-brand for the king, it took three months to get both approval for the action and receive a number of ideas from the stencils' manufacturer, according to an interview with local SPD politician Marion Götz by German media picked up by CNN.

The Twitterverse (as usual) had a wide range of opinions about the installations, with a few envisioning the "stop" image as something a little more foul.

No, the stop signal is not the King peeing

Other Twitterers and Elvis fan accounts delighted in seeing their icon on the signals.

Friedberg may have these newly-installed signals, but it would appear the whole area has a fever for Presley, as the town's neighboring Bad Nauheim is known for the annual "European Elvis Festival" and even has a bronze statue of the legend in the works, says The Local.

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