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The protestant parson Hillenbrandt writes in 1785 about Otzweiler:
"Half an hour towards west (from Limbach) lies the village Otzweiler. It encompasses 24 houses and the same number of families. It lies in a valley between some hills and belongs both to Baden and to Salm-Kyrburg. The inhabitants of this village are generally very poor, the houses are built badly from clay and straw, single floored and roofed with straw. Agriculture and cattle-breeding is very inferior, soil and fields are poor and infertile, so that the land will rarely match the work of its owner unless it is well fertilized. The inhabitant are heavily indebted. Moreover, their landmark is small, because it is bounded by the manorial forest, the so called Badischer Rückwald, on the one side, and by the Salmischer Siener-Wald on the other side close to the houses of the village. The village possesses no forests for its own, so that the inhabitants must buy their firewood. The little part of fertile land closeby the village is manorial property and taken in lease by the inhabitants. In bad years its harvest hardly equals its rent. After all these comments, this village is the poorest in the district of Naumburg and the best meadows belong had been bought more and more by foreigners. The inhabitants are partly Lutherans, partly Reformed and a partly Catholics."
Under these circumstances it takes us no wonder that that many people left Otzweiler as early as in the 17th century. An investigation on emigrations from Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland in the17th century reveals that more than 30 motions for emigration from Otzweiler were proposed in this period at the local authority. Most of the proposers realized their plans so that more than 100 persons emigrated from Otzweiler in that time.
The destination of emigration for the most families was Galicia (today Poland and Ukraine, sic!). Known family names are Fetzer, Grohn, Heidrich, Mosenheimer, Riegel and Schmitt. A significant number of families tried find a new home in Hungary and Banat (today Yugoslavia), while only Family Koch and 3 more families decided for the expensive emigration to North America, as registered by the immigration office at the harbor of Philadelphia between 1738 and 1751.
With the abolishment of the feudal system under the French occupation of the left side of the Rhine after the French Revolution, the governmental membership also changed for Otzweiler. By dissolution of the districts Salm-Kyrburg and Naumburg as well as of the municipalities Becherbach and Sien, Otzweiler became part of the municipality Schmidthachenbach, district Grumbach. Since the formal integration of the German countries on left side of the Rhein to France in 1801, the 200 inhabitants of Otzweiler became French citizens – by law. However, the French membership did not persist for a long time. Napoleon’s failed campaign against Russia marked the beginning of the end of French primacy in the Palatinate in 1814.
After a short temporary administration by Bavaria-Austria and a membership to the Kingdom of Prussia for only a few months, Otzweiler became part of the district of Meisenheim in 1816 under the principality of the Duke of Hessen-Homburg until 1866. Otzweiler magistrate was in Hundsbach. This was moved to Becherbach in 1820 and continued until 1940. Today Otzweiler is a member of the association of communities Kirn-Land.
A document dated from 1868 reports that most inhabitants of Otzweiler lived from agriculture and cattle-breeding, although these professions were negligible compared to the other villages in the district of Becherbach. A number of inhabitants served as craftsmen or daylabourers. We know of locksmiths, linen weavers, basket makers, masons, smiths, millers, shoemakers, carpenters, coopers, ragpickers and tailors.
The number of Protestants in Otzweiler, belonging to the parish of Becherbach, exceeded the Catholics, belonging to Merxheim and Sien. There was no regular school so that children were educated by temporary teachers in their private homes. The first school house was built around 1850, sponsored to one sixth by the parents of Catholic pupils. A new school house was built in 1881, sponsored to one half by the State because of the local pauperism.
Development of population in Otzweiler:
| Houses | Families | Persons | |
| 1785 | 24 | 24 | |
| 1809 | 200 | ||
| 1864 | 320 | ||
| 1868 | 57 | 71 |
The population remained almost constant between 1868 and 1900, although again many people had emigrated in that period. Again, as for the 18th century, it is reported of about 100 individuals leaving to North America in the second half of the 19th century. This number is also confirmed by the Otzweiler Musterliste, in which many emigrants are listed by name.
The first emigrants in the 19th century from Otzweiler went to Poland and North America.
Known families are:
| 1836 | Johann Thielmann Fuchs | Poland |
| 1836 | Johann Peter Maurer | North America |
| 1836 | Johannes Dries | North America |
| 1836 | Georg Jakob Holler | North America |
| 1836 | Peter Holler | North America |
| 1846 | Jakob Weichel | North America |
| 1850 | Peter Hofenbecher | North America |
| 1853 | Peter Weichel | North America |
| 1853 | Maria Margaretha Schenkel | North America |
| 1853 | 2 sons of Kritzmacher | North America |
| 1857 | Johann Peter Nicodemus | North America |
Also the 58 years old widow Katharina Drusenheimer dared to participate the fatiguing Atlantic crossing, but returned later to Otzweiler again.
The period of emigrations paused in the following years, caused by a recession in the United States and the Civil War in the 1860’s, but continued in 1870.
| 1870 | Adam Pick | North America |
| 1871 | 2 sons of Anton Dries | North America |
| 1871 | Johannes Baus | North America |
| 1871 | sons of Konrad Wilhelm | North America |
| 1873 | Katharina Reidenbach | North America |
| 1873 | 2 sons of Peter Müller | North America |
The sons of Konrad Wilhelm returned to Otzweiler in 1879, but emigrated again to America in 1880.
Other emigrants in the 1880’s were
| Peter Kunz |
| Philipp Pick |
| Johann Jakob Schneider |
| Jakob Bopp |
Only little is known about the further fortune of these emigrants. Not to all of them the New World became also a New Home and some returned to Germany. However, some lucky connections are still alive, as with our honored Suzanne Gregorius, who sponsored a fountain to her home village in 1903.
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