Austrian Hamlet of Fucking Considers Changing Its Unfortunate, but Famous, Name.

The Daily Mirror said it best: The village of Fucking, Austria, is especially popular with British tourists. As a local tour guide explained: "The Germans all want to see Mozart's house in Salzburg; the Americans want to see where The Sound of Music was filmed; the Japanese want Hitler's birthplace in Braunau; but for the British, it's all about Fucking."

Augustina Lindlbauer, the manager of an area guesthouse, noted that the area had lakes, forests, and vistas worth visiting, but there was an "obsession with Fucking". Lindlbauer recalled how she had to explain to a British female tourist "that there were no Fucking postcards."

All of this may change soon. Reportedly, residents who are tired of replacing stolen signs, are once again pushing to change the name from Fucking to something less controversial such as Fuking or Fugging.

Media reports said local residents in the town - whose name apparently derives from Adalpert von Vucckingen, who lived there in the 11th Century - had grown weary of tourists stealing town signs and striking indecent poses for photos.

"I don't know where this comes from in the international press," an annoyed-sounding Mayor Franz Meindl said by telephone in 2012 from Fucking, an Upper Austrian town near the German border. "This was discussed a few years ago but nothing came of it. It is certainly not under discussion now."

A resident of the village, Josef Winkler, attempted to cash in on the village's fame by setting up a website on which he sold T-shirts featuring the village road signs, with the slogan "I like Fucking in Austria" printed on them. According to Winkler, they were selling well, and he was in negotiations with Maxim regarding possible promotions, but was forced to stop his venture after being shouted at and threatened in the street. Winkler said, "It was a bit of fun that didn't hurt anyone, but I found out that in this region you just can't do something like that. The whole thing became a real trial for me and I had to stop. People are very traditional here."

It is believed that the settlement was founded in the 6th century AD by Focko, a Bavarian nobleman. The Austrian region during this century was mostly under the domain of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths, and was populated by a mix of Christians and Pagans, says Wikipedia.

The existence of the village was documented for the first time in 1070, and historical records show that some twenty years later, the lord was recorded in Latin as Adalpertus de Fucingin.

The spelling of the name has evolved over the years; it is first recorded in historical sources with the spelling as Vucchingen in 1070, Fukching in 1303, Fugkhing in 1532, and in the modern spelling Fucking in the 18th century, which is pronounced with the vowel oo as in book. The ending -ing is an old Germanic suffix indicating the people belonging to the root word to which it is attached, thus Fucking means "(place of) Focko's people." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria