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20. 12. 11. - 13:00

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20. 12. 11. - 13:00

Happy F***ing Christmas

Michael Leidig

Villagers in the Austrian town of F***ing have given up trying to live down their name and are cashing in with a range of Xmas cards that have become a sell-out success.

The village's bizarre name is understood to come from a sixth century noble called Lord Focko, with 'ing' being old German for 'family of'.

Franz Meindl, the mayor of the town, was in the headlines after complaining about tourists flocking to the village to be photographed in front of the road signs with the name "F***ing".

He said: "They have been a nuisance for years, some even strip off naked, and the worst steal the f***ing signs. They think its funny but a new F***ing sign is expensive.

"Until the Americans were stationed nearby after the war we didn't even know it had an alternative meaning. It is just the usual spelling of the word for us. I’m sure I could find many town names in Britain or somewhere else which sound funny when pronounced in German.

"There is nothing funny in the name to us. If other people laugh about it, there is nothing we can do. But we pronounce it differently in our dialect and it was never funny in any way," added the mayor.

In the end the village concreted the poles in place and welded the signs in tight to stop them being pinched.

The villagers even had a debate about whether to change the name but decided in the end to keep their name after learning that the nearby German village of Wank had developed a flourishing tourism business on the back of their bizarre name.

Staff at the Wank guest house admitted most of their guests only came for the chance to send the Wank post card and ski on the nearby Wank piste. In summer visitors can take hikes up the 1,780 metre Wank Mountain, or, if they prefer, take it easy in the four seater Wank cable car that goes all the way to the peak.

Local tourism chiefs say they realised that although the name meant nothing in German it was a goldmine when it came to attracting English-speaking visitors.

A spokesman said: "There are Wank postcards on sale although many people prefer to take their own Wank holiday snaps standing beside Welcome to Wank signs."

Although less famous as a tourist destination Fucking has now allowed the village name to be used as the trademark for a brand of beer, and at local beer gardens "Give Me a Fucking Beer" is now the most popular phrase English phrase.

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