The ford across the Regnitz, the reason for the original founding of the settlement, is the feature which gave Fürth its strategic importance as an access point to Nuremberg during the Protestant champion's, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, campaign through Bavaria.

[3] In spring of 1632, Gustavus Adolphus had handed the Habsburg Emperor, Ferdinand II, a major defeat at Rain, where the head of the Catholic army, Count Tilly, had fallen.

There he encountered Gustavus, who had previously fired the town of Fürth in June, and who had come back up from the south and taken Nuremberg in order to oppose Wallenstein's designs on Saxony.

Wallenstein's post-battle tactic of maintaining a strictly defensive, well-fortified position paid off when, running short on provisions, Gustavus was forced to withdraw southward on 19 September (N.S.).

This left the two major opposing armies in the region in a stalemate which was not to be resolved until November's Battle of Lützen, which resulted in a very costly victory for the Protestant forces.

[3][5] In the next couple of years, Wallenstein's overcautious battlefield conduct and military errors led to his falling out of favor with the Emperor.