Faymonville
Faymonville (Walloon: Faimonveye, German: Außenborn) is a village in Liège, Belgium, part of the municipality of Waimes. Its inhabitants are nicknamed the "Turks" by the neighbouring towns and villages. It is believed that the inhabitants refused to join the crusades against the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and were called as Turks consequently. Another (more likely) reason could be that the inhabitants did not have to pay the taxes collected by the monks of the principality of Stavelot-Malmedy for the war against the Turkish empire, since Faymonville was part of the Duchy of Luxembourg, contrary to the other Walloon villages of the area. The inhabitants of these villages therefore would have called the inhabitants of Faymonville the "Turks". To protest, the latter adopted crescent and star as their symbols wearing them and dressing their building. This later became a tradition. It was even once told that when the villagers were to gather in the church, they did not use the bells but a call to church like the call to prayer in Turkey. This has however never been really assessed and should be viewed more as a legend. Every year the town celebrates their connection to Turks and the inhabitants now call themselves Turks.
The town was part of the Eupen-Malmedy area transferred from Germany to Belgium in 1919. It was annexed to Germany occupation 1940-1945. During the battle of the Bulge, the town has been severely shelled and more than 50% of the buildings were completely destroyed, most the remaining ones incurring severe damages.
Today Faymonville forms part of the predominantly francophone Belgian district of Malmedy.
Coordinates: 50°24′17″N 6°08′21″E / 50.40469°N 6.13917°E
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