Tourtemagne

Geschichte

Turtmann is a former municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The municipalities of Turtmann and Unterems merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Turtmann-Unterems.HistoryTurtmann is first mentioned in 1050 as Curtmannonis. In 1210 it was mentioned as Torthemanei and Tortemagny. Until 2003 Turtmann had a military airfield which was used by Swiss Air Force Northrop F-5 of fighter squadron 13. The airfield is now just for the use of civil aircraft. After the withdrawal of the Swiss Air Force the aircraft cavern was used for the storage of Swiss Army M113 armored personnel carriers.GeographyTurtmann had an area, of 6.8km2. Of this area, 46.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 36.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 14.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and 3.2% is unproductive land.The former municipality is located in the Leuk district, south of the Rhone river down in the Rhone valley at the entrance to the Turtmann valley. It consists of the village of Turtmann and the hamlets of Tännu and Ried.Coat of armsThe blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, a Bend wavy Argent a Griffin passant coward Or holding in dexter a sword of the second in chief two Mullets of Six of the third in base Coupeaux Vert and fleur-de-lys of the third.