Gates of Tina Turner’s Swiss home full of tributes, Kiwi says

A New Zealander living in Switzerland has given an up-close and personal account of the tributes being laid outside the home of Tina Turner and her husband Erwin Bach.

Turner, who was 83, died at her home on May 24 after a long illness.

Eleanor Bekesi, from Auckland, has lived with her husband and three children in Zurich for the past four years. She told 1News that there are "lots of visitors" passing by all day to the vast estate — a lakeside villa in Küsnacht, southeast of Zurich.

Chateau Algonquin, a 10-building waterfront estate, is where Bach and Turner married and lived for years until her death. The Bekesi family live about 1km down the street.

Bekesi filmed lines of flowers packed at the entrance to the property. She said locals are taking care of arranging the flowers, handwritten notes and candle tributes to the famed singer.

She explained Turner had gifted the village where she lived, Christmas wreaths, which are still in place today.

"For the last four years we have had the opportunity to learn about another side of Tina Turner. She lived on our road, we walked, paddle boarded and cycled past her house regularly," Bekesi said.

"She provided Christmas lights in our village each year, and wrote a song for our children's school. She fully immersed herself in Swiss life here in Küsnacht, she learnt and spoke German. She was an amazing woman."

"She was absolutely loved by the people here," Bekesi said.

"Each night there's a parade of people coming - there's a lovely little restaurant that has been blasting out her music in the evening."

Bekesi said while she'd spotted Turner while paddleboarding past their house, "there is an unwritten rule — like with everything in Switzerland, that you respect people's privacy".

Turner moved to Switzerland in the mid-1990s and took Swiss citizenship in 2013 — dispensing with her US passport and was arguably the most famous resident in recent years, the Associated Press reported.

Swiss President Alain Berset tweeted a tribute to Turner, calling her an icon and saying his "thoughts are with the relatives of this impressive woman, who found a second homeland in Switzerland".

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Eddy Hampton Armani, Turner's personal assistant of over 20 years, told The Mirror, "she did not want a big public funeral.

"There will be a private funeral ceremony attended by close friends and family. It will be for her very close friends in Switzerland, and her manager. It will not be a big family occasion."