A regrettable name—for the Anglophone world—has made the small village of 'Fucking' an unlikely tourist attraction, mostly for those who want to pose in front of its signs.
Now, in a bid to shed its infamy, its inhabitants have voted to change the village's name to 'Fugging'.
For reasons unknowable, the fine Austrian village of Fucking, in Tarsdorf municipality, has decided to rename itself Fugging from the beginning of next year pic.twitter.com/WzsDWw2LAT
— jon henley (@jonhenley) November 26, 2020
The decision, taken by the Tarsdorf municipal council, will see the village's name changed in 2021.
While becoming a tourist attraction is often a good thing for the local economy, the Austrians didn't take kindly to tourists' tendency to steal their signs as souvenirs. The city even resorted to welding signs to the ground in a bid to stop this practice.
The Sunday Telegraph reported in 2005 that each time the sign was stolen, it cost 300 Euros to replace—an amount that began getting reflected in local's taxes.
The name-change will likely prove the most successful measure to get rid of 'Fucking' tourists.
The village's sadly iconic name is believed to have come from a Bavarian noble called Focko, who helped found it in the 6th century AD.
