Fucking, Austria

The most frequently stolen traffic sign in Austria, at the entrance to the village of Fucking. The lower sign ("Please, not so fast!") is addressed to speeding drivers.

Fucking (IPA: [ˈfʊkɪŋ], SAMPA: ["fUkIN]) is a small settlement (population c. 150) in the Innviertel region of southwestern Upper Austria, located at 48° 02′ 60″ N 12° 50′ 60″ E, bordering Bavaria. It is near the city of Salzburg. The village is known to have existed as "Fucking" since at least 1070 and is named after a man from the 6th century called Focko. "Ing" is an old Germanic suffix meaning "people"; thus Fucking, in this case, means "place of Focko's people". The German word for "fucking", regarded equally as low as the English word, is ficken.

The name, spelled identically to the gerund form of the English profanity "fuck", is often found amusing by Anglophones.

The settlement's only significant feature is a traffic sign with its name on it at which English-speaking tourists invariably stop to have their photograph taken. The sign is the most stolen street sign in Austria. A considerable portion of Fucking's budget is spent on replacing the stolen signs.

In 2004, the residents voted on changing the name (owing to the stolen signs and embarrassment over the name), but decided against doing so.