the castle continued to exist. In 1321/1322 Count Johann I of Saarbr�cken-Commercy gave city status to the settlement of Saarbr�cken and the fishing village of St Johann on the opposite bank of the Saar, introducing a joint administration and emancipating the inhabitants from serfdom.
From 1381 to 1793 the counts of Nassau-Saarbr�cken were the main local rulers.
In 1549, Emperor Charles V prompted the construction of the Alte Br�cke (old bridge) connecting Saarbr�cken and St Johann. At the beginning of the 17th century, Count Ludwig II ordered the construction of a new Renaissance-style castle on the site of the old castle, and founded Saarbr�cken's oldest secondary school, the Ludwigsgymnasium. During the Thirty Years' War, the population of Saarbr�cken was reduced to just 70 by 1637, down from 4500 in 1628. During the Franco-Dutch War, King Louis XIV's troops burned down Saarbr�cken in 1677, almost completely destroying the city - just 8 houses remained standing.
The area was incorporated into France for the first time in the 1680s. France was forced to relinquish the Saar province in 1697, but from 1793 to 1815 regained control of the region.
During the reign of Prince William Henry from 1741 to 1768, the coal mines were nationalized and his policies created a proto-industrialized economy, laying the foundation for Saarland's later highly industrialized economy. Saarbr�cken was booming, and Prince William Henry spent on building and on infrastructure like the Saarkran river crane (1761), far beyond his financial means. However, the famous baroque architect Friedrich Joachim Stengel created not only the Saarkran, but many iconic buildings that still shape Saarbr�cken's face today, like the Friedenskirche (Peace Church), which was finished in 1745, the Old City Hall (1750), the catholic St. John's Basilica (1754), and the famous Ludwigskirche (1775), Saarbr�cken's landmark.
n 1793, Saarbr�cken was captured by French revolutionary
