Balterswil is a village and former municipality in the

canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The municipality also contained the villages Lützelmurg, Zielwies, Ifwil and Lochwies.

History

Balterswil is first mentioned in 885 as ''Baldherreswilare'. Balterswil was owned in the Late Middle Ages by the Lords of Bichelsee. In 1419 it was given by the Landenberger's to Fischingen Abbey. Until 1798 it was part of the old court of Fischinger. In 1521, certain farm land usage rights were extended to Ifwil, followed in 1651 by limited civil benefits to existing farmsteads. In 1884 an arsonist caused a large fire in the village. It was always part of the Bichelsee parish. The major sources of income were vineyards, fields and orchards, and peat extraction until the 19th Century, when the livestock industry moved into the village. By 1900, there were several small embroidery businesses, but local economy remained rooted in small businesses and agriculture until around 1970. Between 1941-50 the ''Riet Soor'' marsh was drained which opened up additional land. In 1979 a freight storage and transshipping facility opened. The late 20th Century economy included a pneumatic equipment company (est. 1950), a storage facilities company (with a total of about 250 employees), and numerous residential buildings in the village. In 1996 the municipality was merged with the neighboring municipality

Bichelsee Bichelsee is a village and former municipality in the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland. It takes its name from the nearby lake, Bichelsee. The municipality also contained the villages Höfli, Niederhofen am Bichelsee and Itaslen. History Biche ...

to form a new and larger municipality Bichelsee-Balterswil.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 14 January 2010

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following table:

References

* Former municipalities of Thurgau Villages in Thurgau {{Thurgau-geo-stub