Fucking in Austria
There is a town in Austria called FUCKING - and is a popular destination with tourists. Locals know what the name of their town means in English and have had to take steps to stop people stealing the towns sign by painting it with graffiti proof paint.
Like so many immature people, many people just have to have a selfie of themselves besides the towns name as many cannot believe there is such a place.
Fugging (German: spelled Fucking until 2021, is an Austrian village in the municipality of Tarsdorf, located in the Innviertel region of western Upper Austria. It is 33 km (21 mi) north of Salzburg and 4 km (2.5 mi) east of the Inn river, which forms part of the German border.
Despite a population of only 106 in 2020, the village has drawn attention in the English-speaking world for its former name, which was spelled the same as an inflected form of the vulgar English-language word "fuck". Its road signs were a popular visitor attraction and were often stolen by souvenir-hunting vandals until 2005, when they were modified to be theft-resistant. A campaign to change the village's name to Fugging was rejected in 2004 but succeeded in late 2020.
The settlement is believed to have been 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.
The existence of the village was documented for the first time in 1070, and historical records show that some 20 years later, the lord was recorded in Latin as Adalpertus de Fucingin.
The spelling of the name, which is pronounced with the English language vowel oo as in book, evolved over the years; it is first recorded in historical sources as Vucchingen in 1070, as Fukching in 1303, as Fugkhing in 1532, and in the modern spelling Fucking in the 18th century. 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".
Demographics
The Austrian census of 2020 recorded that the village had a population of 106. The Age reported in 2005 that it had 104 inhabitants and 32 houses.
Popularity and notoriety
Fugging is best known for the four traffic signs at the entrances to the village, beside which many English-speaking tourists have had their photograph taken because of its former name of "Fucking". British and United States soldiers based in nearby Salzburg noticed the name after World War II and began to travel to the village to have their photos taken beside the signs. The local residents, the Fuckingers, were bemused, as they had not previously been aware of the meaning of their village's name in English. During the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century, the number of tourists visiting the village increased, including the occasional tour bus.
Street map of Fugging
The village 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, said that the area had lakes, forests, and vistas worth visiting, but there was an "obsession with Fucking", and she had to explain to a British tourist "that there were no Fucking postcards".
The English meaning of its name also resulted in the village being the butt of jokes in popular media. The Grand Tour featured the village in the 2017 episode "[censored] to [censored]", as part of a road trip from Wank via Kissing, Petting, and Fucking to Wedding. In 2019, Norwegian broadcasting company NRK Sport produced a comedic tourism video on Fucking. Released on YouTube, the video consists of the reporter and the former Melodi Grand Prix Junior presenter Nicolay Ramm both advertising the village's attractions and listing off a large number of double entendres based on its name.
The road signs were commonly stolen as souvenirs, and cost some 300 euros to replace.[7] In 2005, theft-resistant welded signs were installed, secured in concrete.[7] The mayor of Tarsdorf said that tourists were still welcome,[14][15] though the local police chief emphasised that "we will not stand for the Fucking signs being removed. It may be very amusing for you British, but Fucking is simply Fucking to us. What is this big Fucking joke? It is puerile."
One resident set up a website selling T-shirts featuring the signs, with the slogan "I like Fucking in Austria", but shut it down after other residents disapproved.
In 2009, the village said it would install surveillance cameras to deter tourists from continuing to attempt to steal the road signs. The mayor said that he would prefer not to see the village featured in the press anymore: "Just leave [us] alone".
In the same year, the European Union's Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market trademarks agency forbade a German brewery to market a beer called "Fucking Hell". The brewery successfully argued that "hell" in German means "pale" and that the beer is produced in Fucking; permission for the name was granted in January 2010. (The second part of the name is the German term for a pale lager, Hell.)
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It looks like a sleepy country town that just wants to be left alone and I can understand why they changed its name, and it is sad when tourists destroy a place for the sake of a picture. Tourism can make - or brake a place. Tourists bring in the money but unless locals are prepared and ready to open venues like cafes, souvenir shops and so forth, then the tourists will just be a nuisance and not help financially to the local economy at all.
Port Isaac - Cornwall.
Doc Martin country. Quaint little granite cottages, narrow winding streets and a beautiful harbour can be seen throughout the TV series Doc Martin.
Named 'Portwenn' in the series, the actual location is Port Isaac on Cornwall's stunning north coast and yes, it is really like that !
On a weekend you cannot move in this small village by the sea as tourists pour into the town and completely take it over and locals hate it - and unless making money from the tourists, it means no where to park as tourists are all over the place, cafes and bars full of 'outsiders' and locals cannot shop, go out for lunch or do anything when the town is so chock a block with tourists. Many complain. Many live in these quiet villages because they want a quiet life and if then made famous years later because of a TV programme ( and originally the movie Saving Grace - CLICK HERE . ) it can be really annoying.
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