Upper Őrség

Upper Őrség (Hungarian: Felső-Őrség, [ˈfɛlsøː ˈøːrʃeːɡ]; 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 Unterwart (Hun: Alsóőr) and Siget in der Wart (Hun: Őrisziget). The population of the three settlements was 7694 according to the 2001 census, of whom 1922 people (25%) belonged to the ethnic Hungarian minority. The economic and cultural center of the microregion is Oberwart/Felsőőr.

In the 11th century the region was part of the border zone (gyepű) of the Kingdom of Hungary. The mainly uninhabited frontier was defended by free border guard communities called őrök és lövők (guards and archers). In contemporary Latin documents they are called spiculatores and sagittarii. They were probably related to the border guards of the eastern frontier, the Székelys.

The descendants of the guards are still living in the villages of the Upper Őrség (and in the Lower Őrség or simply Őrség in present-day Hungary). The archers later assimilated into the German population. They lived around the villages of Alsólövő (now Unterschützen) and Felsölövő (now Oberschützen). There were also other border guard communities elsewhere.

In the early Middle Ages the gyepű became part of the county of Vas. Upper Őrség belonged to this county until 1921.

...
Wikipedia