Fucking, Austria

Signs like these have often been stolen

Fucking (IPA: [ˈfʊkɪŋ]) is an Austrian village in the municipality of Tarsdorf, in the Innviertel region of western Upper Austria.

The village is 33 kilometres north of Salzburg, four kilometres east of the German border and can be travelled to in half an hour by car from the town of Petting, in Bavaria.

History

Fucking has existed since at least 1070 and is named after a man from the 6th century called "Focko". In old Germanic, "-ing" is used to describe people as belonging to their leader; so "Fucking" means "(place of) Focko’s people." The village has a population of 104.

Fucking's most famous feature is a traffic sign with its name on it, which tourists often photograph. This street sign is often stolen. Significant public funds have been spent on replacing the stolen signs.

In 2004, because many signs had been stolen, a vote was held to change the village name, but the villagers voted not to change. In August 2005, the road signs were welded to a very strong pole. Some signs have been stolen since 2005 but not as many.^[source?]