Unterwart or Alsóőr (german: Unterwart; hu, Alsóőr; Croatian: ''Dolnja Borta'') is a village in
Burgenland,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, in the district of
Oberwart
Oberwart (; hu, Felsőőr; hr, Gornja Borta) is a town in Burgenland in southeast Austria on the banks of the Pinka River, and the capital of the district of the same name. Oberwart is the cultural capital of the small ethnic Hungarian minority ...
(Hun: ''Felsőőr''). The village lies on the banks of the
Pinka
The Pinka () is a river in Central Europe with a length of approximately . Its basin area is . Its source is located in Styria, eastern Austria, next to the provincial border of Burgenland. It passes into Hungary between the villages of and Fels ...
river, and it had a population of 964 in 2001 (without
Eisenzicken
Eisenzicken (Hungarian: ''Németciklény'', ''Vasverőszék'' or ''Vasszék'', Croatian: ''Nimski Cikljin'') is a small community in Burgenland, Austria that belongs to the neighbouring village of Unterwart (Hun.: ''Alsóőr''). It had a populatio ...
only 724). Unterwart is one of only two settlements in Austria with an ethnic Hungarian majority. It is part of the
Upper Őrség
Upper Őrség ( hu, Felső-Őrség, ; german: Wart) is a traditional ethnographic region and a small Hungarian language island in southern Burgenland, Austria. It consists of the town of Oberwart (Hun: ''Felsőőr'') and the two villages of Unter ...
microregion, a small Hungarian language island together with Oberwart and
Siget in der Wart
Siget in der Wart or Őrisziget (; ) is a small village in Burgenland, Austria, in the district of Oberwart (Hun: ''Felsőőr''). The village lies on the banks of the Zicken Bach (''Szék-patak'') and administratively belongs to the neighbouring to ...
(''Őrisziget'').
History
The village was established together with Felsőőr (today Oberwart) 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 Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
(''gyepű''). The population was made up of Hungarian frontier guards (''őr''), probably related to the
Székelys
The Székelys (, Székely runes: 𐳥𐳋𐳓𐳉𐳗), also referred to as Szeklers,; ro, secui; german: Szekler; la, Siculi; sr, Секељи, Sekelji; sk, Sikuli are a Hungarian subgroup living mostly in the Székely Land in Romania. ...
of Transylvania. The guards constituted a free, privileged community. Alsóőr belonged to the old
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
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 ''őr''s kept their privileges and defended them resolutely against the intentions of big landowners. The Hungarian Parliament confirmed their rights several times (1478, 1498, 1547).
The society of Alsóőr in the 18-19th centuries was made up of two class, the nobles (''nobilis'') and the non-nobles (''agilis''). 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.
In the Age of Reformation the people of Alsóőr converted to Lutheranism but - contrary to the neighbouring Felsőőr - later they returned to the Roman Catholic faith. The village became an independent parish in 1808.
In 1921 the village became part of the Republic of Austria after the
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in ...
although the Hungarians of the Felső-Őrség opposed the change. Unterwart remained a poor agricultural community well until the 1970s. In the first part of the 20th century a lot of people emigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
After World War II Unterwart/Alsóőr underwent a thorough modernization and industrialization with the building of roads, civic buildings, sewage canals and the regulation of the Pinka. In the recent past a new club house, fitness centre, doctor's office and two-storey houses were built giving a modern appearance to the village.
In 1971 the neighbouring small Austrian village of
Eisenzicken
Eisenzicken (Hungarian: ''Németciklény'', ''Vasverőszék'' or ''Vasszék'', Croatian: ''Nimski Cikljin'') is a small community in Burgenland, Austria that belongs to the neighbouring village of Unterwart (Hun.: ''Alsóőr''). It had a populatio ...
was merged into Unterwart.
Population
Sights
*Roman Catholic Church of
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
According to the visitation report of dean István Kazó in 1697 the village of Alsóőr had a little church built of wood with a painted ceiling. In 1769 the Community of Nobles erected the present-day stone church with a tower. It was enlarged in 1833. The main altar is decorated with the wooden statues of
St. Stephen, King of Hungary and his son,
St. Emericus. The baroque Column of the Virgin Mary was erected in the first half of the 18th century in front of the church.
* Village Museum (''Falumúzeum, Heimathaus'')
The village museum was established in 1973 by Mayor Ernő Szabó. Two old peasant houses (No. 208 and 209) were bought to accommodate the largest Hungarian ethnographic collection in Burgenland. The two houses with a complete furniture give an interesting insight into the life of the peasants of Alsóőr in the 19-20th centuries. In 1995 the museum was visited by Hungarian President
Árpád Göncz and his Austrian colleague,
Thomas Klestil
Thomas Klestil (; 4 November 1932 – 6 July 2004) was an Austrian diplomat and politician who served as President of Austria from 1992 to his death in 2004. He was elected in 1992 and re-elected into office in 1998.
Biography until 1992
Born ...
.
* Peasant Houses
There are approximately 30 old peasant houses in Unterwart/Alsóőr. They are typical examples of the architecture of the Felső-Őrség with varied porches and stuccoed gables.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms of Unterwart/Alsóőr (1994) are similar to the arms of Oberwart and refer to the origin of the two villages as Hungarian border-guard communities. The arms depict an old frontier guard (''őr'') on a silver shield wearing a red uniform and a blue jacket holding up a sword in his raised right hand.
Hungarians
Alsóőr/Unterwart is one of 2 settlements in Austria with an ethnic Hungarian majority. Today the local primary school (''Népiskola, Volksschule'') is bilingual (German-Hungarian). The village school was first mentioned in 1697 in the visitation report of Dean István Kazó. The new school building with a kindergarten was built in 1989. There are several Hungarian cultural associations in the village. Magyar teenagers are able to continue their education in the bilingual secondary school of Oberwart/Felsőőr. The Hungarian village library with more than 5000 books was established in 1975 by Reverend Galambos Ferenc Iréneusz teacher, parish priest, librarian and editor. The Hungarian Folk-Song Association was founded in 1919.
References
External links
village homepagecultural institute in Unterwart
Cities and towns in Oberwart District
{{Burgenland-geo-stub