Their nobility differentiated the őrs from the people of the neighbouring villages, and was important in the formation of their distinct identity.
In the village of Alsóőr/Unterwart several families trace back their origin to medieval times, for example the Balikó, Balla, Benedek, Benkő, Deáki, Farkas, Gaál, Gangoly, Gyáki, Györög, Heritz, Kelemen, Leéb, Moór, Német, Paál, Palank, Seper, Szabó, Takács and Zarka families.
At the end of the 19th century the community began to dwindle, due to the decline of small crafts and the frittering away of the noble properties between the children[clarification needed].
Several new Hungarian civil servants and intellectuals arrived in Felsőőr which was the centre of local government but the newcomers remained "strangers" to the original population.
After World War I a small German-speaking area in the west of Hungary was awarded to the Republic of Austria by the Treaty of Trianon.
The people of Upper Őrség protested against the decision but their attempt to establish an independent micro-state (see Lajtabánság) failed.
After World War II the remaining őrs were totally separated from the mother country by the Iron Curtain.
Assimilation accelerated, although there were attempts to keep alive the sense of identity, for example by the formation of cultural groups and associations.