Unterwart

Geschichte

Unterwart or Alsóőr is a village in Burgenland, Austria, in the district of Oberwart . The village lies on the banks of the Pinka river, and it had a population of 964 in 2001 . Unterwart is one of only two settlements in Austria with an ethnic Hungarian majority. It is part of the Upper Őrség microregion, a small Hungarian language island together with Oberwart and Siget in der Wart .HistoryThe village was established together with Felsőőr in the early Middle Ages. As the name of the villages indicates they were part of the border-zone of the Kingdom of Hungary . The population was made up of Hungarian frontier guards, probably related to the Székelys of Transylvania. The guards constituted a free, privileged community. Alsóőr belonged to the old county of Vas until 1921.In 1327 King Charles I of Hungary confirmed the rights of the villagers and ranked them among the nobles. Although later they lost their military significance, the noble őrs kept their privileges and defended them resolutely against the intentions of big landowners. The Hungarian Parliament confirmed their rights several times .The society of Alsóőr in the 18-19th centuries was made up of two class, the nobles and the non-nobles . The lands of village were the property of Community of the Nobles. The agilis only used some parts of it or made their living from handicrafts like boot-making, book-binding, turnering etc. In the middle of the 19th century 47 different crafts were practiced in the village, and the taylors even established their own guilde.