The long-suffering residents of a small Austrian village with a very offensive name have had enough.
From January 1, the village of F–king will officially change its name to Fugging.
Fed-up F–king residents, who have long borne the brunt of jokes about their town’s name, won’t miss it. But tourists, petty thieves and fans of unusual place names might.
The-town-to-be-known-as-Fugging is north of Salzburg, near the German border, and has had its unfortunate name for nigh on 1000 years. More recently – as the internet brought it to global fame – it has attracted a brisk tourism trade and frequent thefts of its official sign.
All that might be able to end though, with the town council’s decision on Thursday to push ahead with the new name. Mayor Andrea Holzner told Austrian broadcaster Oe24 that the new name would take over from January 1, 2021.
Fugging has only about 100 residents, many of whom have pushed for a name change for years, according to the German Press Agency. Its offensive-in-English name has no meaning in German and the replacement moniker is closer to the local pronunciation anyway.
In 2019, locals tried to turn the controversy into some good, installing putting signs above and below the town’s naming sign to read messages such as “Our climate is – F–king – important!”.
While the change is definitely on, it is unclear what will happen to the current town signs. Locals are surely hoping, however, that they don’t disappear with light-fingered tourists as so many others have done.
No news has yet emerged about possible name changes to the nearby hamlets of Oberfucking and Unterfucking.
-with agencies
