a (then) very modern fortification in Baroque-style which proved a big asset only a few years later in the Thirty Years' War. The town survived a siege in 1637 with only minor damage.
The new citizens formed the mayor economic and political power within the County of Hanau and in 1642 played a leading role in the succession of Count Fredrik Casimir of Hanau Lichtenberg into the county of Hanau-M�nzenberg of which the town of Hanau was capital.
In 1736 Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg, the last of the Counts of Hanau, died. Those parts of his county belonging to the county of Hanau-M�nzenberg, which included Hanau, were inherited by the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Due to dynastic troubles within this family the county of Hanau-M�nzenberg was created a separate state from the Landgraviate until 1786. So Hanau stayed capital for another 50 years. Even after that it became � after Kassel � the town second in importance within Hesse-Kassel.
During the Napoleonic Wars the Emperor himself ordered the fortifications of Hanau to be destroyed. This opened a big chance for the towns to expand over their traditional limits. In 1813, the Battle of Hanau occured near the city between French troops and Austro-Bavarian forces. During the 1820th the administrations of both towns of Hanau were merged. The first common Mayor, who became Lord Mayor (Oberb�rgermeister) became Bernhard Eberhard, later the Prime minister and minister of the interior of Kurhessen after the Revolution of 1848.
With its pre-industrial workshops Hanau became a nucleus of a heavy industrialisation during the 19th century: From within the city (e.g.: Heraeus) as well as from outside (e.g. Degussa, Dunlop). This was heavily promoted by its development as an important railway interchange of six railway lines, most of them main lines:
In the 19th century, Hanau was a centre of the German democratic movement and contributed significantly both in 1830 and in the Revolution
