If there weren’t any social media channels, a small town would still be called the same as before. Fucking became fugging – and there is a reason for that.
Vienna – A place-name sign for the Austrian town of Fucking, which became famous because of its name, has now landed in the museum.
Museum director Monika Sommer announced on Sunday that the community near the Bavarian border gave one of the last place-name signs to the House of Austrian History in Vienna.
The sign illustrates how social media channels have drawn attention to the new currency, the director said. Due to the hype in social networks, Fucking had become the target of many people who wanted to photograph themselves with the place-name sign because the name was identical to an obscene English term. A place-name sign was stolen several times.
The only 100 residents felt so disturbed that they renamed Fucking to Fugging at the beginning of the year. “Since our name change, calm has returned and the quality of life is back where it belongs,” says Andrea Holzner, Mayor of Tarsdorf, to which Fugging belongs. The renaming was perhaps an unusual but effective step. With the increasing popularity of social media and the hunt for the best video, the funniest photo, there have been massive violations of the privacy of the locals on an ongoing basis, according to Holzner. dpa
