Why 42 Swedes Said Ich Bin Ein Berliner

What’s in a name? For Michael Eric Klaus-Heidi Andersson from rural Sweden, the answer is airfare to Berlin, a furnished flat in the German capital’s hippest district, and a bike to get around town. Until recently, the 24-year-old’s name was Michael Eric Andersson, but last fall he legally added Klaus-Heidi to win a marketing contest by German airline Deutsche Lufthansa.

He was chosen from 42 Swedes—men and women—who all changed their names to Klaus-Heidi. (Andersson’s poem, an ode to Berlin, was deemed most creative.) He gets a rent-free apartment for a year in the Berlin borough of Neukoelln, language classes to improve his rudimentary German, and flights to explore the country. “It’s all a bit surreal, but fun,” Andersson said after arriving at Berlin’s Tegel Airport on Jan. 8. Sporting a cropped beard and a bewildered look, he was greeted by a pair of Lufthansa flight attendants, a crooning guitarist hired to welcome him, and a woman wrapped in a giant inflatable coffeepot to promote a local supermarket.