In 1330 the received city rights (Stadtrechte) for their village at the foot of Schlossberg from the Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian.

They rebuilt the castle in the second half of the 16th century into a renaissance palace, and then to a fortress.

In the 1600s King Louis XIV of France and his master builder Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban expanded the fort and fortified the city.

The basic structure of Homburg's old town dates back to this time.

The fortifications were first demolished in 1697, and finally in 1714 when they served as a quarry for the construction of Karlsberg Castle.