Turckheim (; Alsatian: Tercka; ) is a commune in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

department in

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

in north-eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It lies west of

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

, on the eastern slopes of the

Vosges mountains The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian (linguistics), Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its France–Germany border, border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the bor ...

History

Archeological finds indicate the area was already inhabited during

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. When the Germanic tribes invaded and crossed the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, the Thuringii settled here and possibly gave their name to the town, which was first ''Thorencohaime'' and then ''Thuringheim''. During the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

Thuringheim is listed as belonging partly to the abbey of

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and partly to the manor of Haut-Landsberg, centered in Kientzheim. Turckheim became a free imperial city in 1312, and in 1315, the construction of ramparts was begun, which are still in good condition. It already had

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

and

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in 1354, and from 1354 to 1679, Turckheim was part of the

Décapole The Décapole (; , or ) was an alliance formed in 1354 by ten Imperial cities of the Holy Roman Empire in the Alsace region to maintain their rights. It was disbanded in 1679. In 1354 Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg ratified the treaty uniti ...

, a league of ten free imperial cities of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. After the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

(1648), Turckheim and the other Alsatian towns refused to swear allegiance to the French king. During the Franco-Dutch War, the village of Turckheim was taken by French armies, led by

Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne (), was a French general and one of only six Marshal of France, marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illus ...

, which subsequently defeated armies of Austria and Brandenburg in what became known as the Battle of Turckheim (1675). Features of the village of Turckheim, especially the gates, help to identify the town in a fan currently in the Fan Museum in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, England. In 1678, with the signing of the Treaties of Nijmegen, the French king assumed control over Turckheim. In 1871, at the end of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, the town, with the rest of the Alsace, became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. In 1918, it reverted to

. Turckheim is one of only a few remaining towns in France with a municipal night watchman, who makes the rounds at 10 p.m. between 1 May and 31 October and on the three Saturdays preceding Christmas. Maintained for tourist reasons, the position commemorates the 13th-century night watchman who prevented a fire.

Geography

Turckheim lies in the valley of the river Fecht, downstream from

. It is 6 km west of the city centre of

Climate

Turckheim has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Turckheim is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Turckheim was on 7 August 2015; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 13 January 1987.

Population

Notable residents

* Victor Sieg (1837 – 1899), composer and organist, was born in Turckheim. Rue Victor Sieg is named in his honour.Billich, André (1975). ''Histoire d'une ancienne ville impériale: Turckheim'', pp. 83 and 171. Éditions Alsatia

References

External links

Turckheim & Trois-Epis (french)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turckheim 1648 disestablishments States and territories established in 1312 Communes of Haut-Rhin Populated places established in the 1310s Former republics Décapole Haut-Rhin communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia