Welcome to Fucking, Austria. Since 1070.
While Austria is very well known for its setting in the movie, The Sound of Music, featuring Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews, it is also becoming increasinly popular for its unfortunately oddly-named little village.
The village of Fucking in Austria is located 32 km’s north of Salzburg, 4 km’s east of the German Border, and just half an hour by car from Petting, Bavaria. It is located in the municipality of Tarsdorf in the region of Innviertel that is found in Upper Austria.
The town was named after a man named Focko. Adding the suffix of “ing” to its end, created the town name: Fucking. It is pronounced as “fooking” like “looking.” Further, in such a small town, many of its roads are also named “Fucking.”
Population? Currently the town has 93 residents but tourists frequent the town. Its most popular tourist attraction is its town sign – which has been stolen many, many times. At one point, the sign was stolen 7 times within 3 months, costing hundreds for each one.
In fact, a significant amount of public funds has gone into replacing its town signs, says Siegfried Hoeppel, the Mayor of Fucking. To solve this issue, several government actions have been made or proposed.
In 2004, the government of the Tarsdorf Municipality held a vote to try and change the town’s name but residents voted against it. In 2005, new Fucking signs were implemented to deter theft. The signs are welded to steel and secured in concrete to make sign theft nearly impossible.
It’s hard out there for a townsperson of Fucking. If you are planning a visit, be courteous and don’t steal their signs.
