In 1985, Laufenburg received the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.

The Kastvogtei (a feudal land holder appointed by the Abbey) transferred his loyalty to the Habsburgs in 1173.

[4] In this 1207 document, the rights of the Abbey to parts of the village were secured while the castles on both sides of the Rhine were given over to the Kastvogt.

This allowed Rudolf II of Habsburg to expand the site to the city.

The last representative of the Habsburg-Laufenburg line, Hans IV (1408) sold control of Laupenburg to Leopold III in 1386.

During the schism at the Council of Constance in 1415 the Antipope John XXIII fled to Laufenburg and withdrew his resignation.

After the Swiss conquest of the nearby Aargau, which was triggered by the schism, Laufenburg was the starting point of several campaigns against the Confederates.

In retaliation, Bern, Solothurn and Basel besieged Laufenburg during the Old Zurich War in 1443.

With the Lunéville peace of 1801 part of the Fricktal went to France and the rest went to the Helvetic Republic in 1802.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (77.2%), with Italian being second most common ( 9.9%) and Albanian being third ( 4.3%).

[9] The age distribution, as of 2008[update], in Laufenburg is; 225 children or 10.8% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 245 teenagers or 11.8% are between 10 and 19.

[11] About 32.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).

[13] The historical population is given in the following table:[4] The court house (German: Gerichtsgebäude) at Gerichtsgasse 86, Catholic parish church, the power plant of Laufenburg with surrounding village and the ruins of Laufenburg Castle together with the castle hill and ruins of the Roman Rhine fortification are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.

[15] The old town of Laufenburg is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

[9] From the 2000 census[update], 1,252 or 59.7% were Roman Catholic, while 308 or 14.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.