In eastern Belgium, near the German border, at the foot of the Hautes-Fagnes wetlands, there is a small village: Faymonville. If you search for it on a map, you probably won't find it, because it is not a municipality on its own—it is one of three settlements attached to the Waimes municipality (German name: Weismes). But this village has a characteristic that, even as someone who has visited more than 45 countries, struck me: residents have been called "Turks" for centuries, crescent and star motifs are hung in homes, and the village's nickname is plainly "Turkish village." Yet the people living here have no connection whatsoever to Turkishness, the Ottoman Empire, or even Anatolia. In this article, I explain the real source of that contradiction with verifiable information I have—because most of the "Napoleon granted military exemption" stories circulating online about Faymonville are legends borrowed from other European villages without source.
Exactly Where Is Faymonville, How Many People Live There?
Faymonville is a village in the Wallonya region of Belgium, attached to the Liège province. As of early 2025, its population is approximately 936 people. Until the 1977 municipal merger, it was an independent municipality; from that date on, it became one of three settlements of the Waimes municipality (the others being Robertville and Waimes itself). The total population of Waimes municipality is approximately 7,400-7,500 people.
I need to clarify here, because there is frequently a confusion about the region: Faymonville is NOT part of Belgium's officially German-speaking community (Eupen, Sankt Vith, and nine municipalities). Waimes is adjacent to that region but administratively attached to the French Community, that is, the Walloon Region. Yet even though this border line is clear on paper, historical reality is murkier: Faymonville was part of Prussia, that is, Germany, until 1919, with the German name Außenborn. After the First World War, it was transferred to Belgium along with the Eupen-Malmedy region through the Treaty of Versailles; during the Second World War, it was again annexed by Germany between 1940-1944; and today a portion of the population still speaks German. So the answer to "Is it a German-speaking region?" is: officially no, but historically and linguistically, yes—it is a complex border area.
Where Does the "Turkish Village" Nickname Come From?
This is where the real issue begins. Faymonville residents have been called "Turks" (in French sources, "les Turcs") by neighboring villages for centuries, and the village has built its own identity around this nickname—in houses, flags, local events, crescent and star symbols are used. But the reason for this is in no way a Turkish settlement, migration, or Ottoman connection.
According to sources, the most reliable explanation for the nickname's origin traces to a medieval tax dispute. Faymonville was not subject to the Stavelot-Malmedy Principality (a monastic principality) of the period; it was considered part of the Luxembourg Duchy. The Stavelot-Malmedy was collecting special taxes from the regional population for campaigns and alliances against the Ottoman advance. Faymonville residents, not being bound to this principality, refused to pay these taxes. Their independent behavior was not welcomed by neighboring villages; they were accused of "showing independence" and were sarcastically called "Turks" over time—like they were collaborating with the enemy. This was actually an insult implying disloyalty.
Additionally, there is another circulating narrative: that Faymonville residents took "the Turks'" side in the 716 Battle of Amblève. This version is clearly marked as "not plausible" by historians, because there is a simple chronology problem—in 716, the sides facing each other in the Amblève were Franks and Christian powers of the period; the founding of the Ottoman State happened at the end of the 13th century, about six centuries after this battle. So "taking the Turks' side" in the 8th century is historically impossible; this story probably emerged later as a folk legend through the mixing of two different narratives.
So Is There a Connection to Napoleon?
I specifically investigated this during my research, because some of Europe's "Turkish villages" with similar nicknames actually do have stories of military exemption or tax privilege from the Napoleon era as their source. But in Faymonville specifically, I found no such connection in my available sources. The story here is much older than Napoleon (early 1800s), going back to the Stavelot-Malmedy Principality era when it was still powerful and when campaigns against the Ottoman Empire were being organized—probably the 16th-17th centuries. So we need to not confuse these two stories: the Napoleon anecdote belongs to other villages, Faymonville's own story is a much older tax and independence issue.
Is There Really Any Connection to Turkishness?
Short answer: no. In Faymonville, there is no settlement trace from the Ottoman period, no documented Turkish migration, and no ancestry of the population tracing back to Anatolia. The nickname emerged entirely from a mockery and exclusion practice: neighboring villages identified a community that did not follow rules and refused to pay taxes as being "on the enemy's side" and humiliated them. The Faymonville residents, over centuries, reversed this insult—today they proudly carry the crescent and star that became the village's symbol, use these motifs in local flags and on building facades. The phrase in the title "A Turkish Village That Was Never Turkish" explains this precisely: the name exists, the origin doesn't; the symbol exists, the ancestry doesn't. This is actually a pattern frequently encountered in Europe—a community being identified and degraded through association with the "other," then proudly claiming that identity. I've seen similar stories in different corners of Germany and France; each has its own local legend, but the common thread is always the same—more of a historical conflict or privilege matter's humorous legacy than an actual ethnic connection.
The Village Also Has a Tragic War Story
Remembering Faymonville only for its strange nickname would be incomplete. During the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge, winter 1944-45), history's last major German offensive of the Second World War, the village found itself at the exact center of the front line and more than half of its buildings were destroyed. The village you see today is largely a post-war reconstruction; though the traditional Ardennes architecture with slate roofs was carefully preserved, most structures are products of 1945 onward. This adds another layer of meaning to the village's story: it carries both a sarcastic nickname born from centuries-old tax disputes and has experienced one of war's most destructive fronts in recent history. The Sainte-Famille (Holy Family) Church still standing in the village center is the most concrete witness of this reconstruction process and the village's resilience; with its war-marked stone walls and simple Ardennes architecture, it stands just a few steps from the square with crescent-and-star-marked flags waving—two different historical layers standing side by side in the same street, making Faymonville far too multilayered to be summarized in a single sentence.
Why Should It Be on Travelers' Maps?
Faymonville is a quiet Ardennes village off the main tourism routes. It is interesting from a hiking and nature tourism perspective due to its proximity to the Hautes-Fagnes natural park, but for me, the real appeal was seeing how a settlement this small built its identity around a misunderstanding. I recommend that on your next Belgium-Germany border region journey, when you visit Malmedy or Sankt Vith, take a detour a few kilometers to look at Faymonville; when you see the crescent-and-star motifs in the village square, you will firsthand feel the story of this "Turkish village" that has never been Turkish. Travel sometimes teaches the most when you've uncovered the reality behind the names—and Faymonville is the textbook example of this.
