In 1772, Anton Rindeschwender established a successful glassworks factory below the village, and along with it a number of new residences and supporting businesses in the area.

Thus, the settlement grew, and Gaggenau was eventually raised to the status of a town on 15 September 1922 because of its economic prosperity.

Six barracks were built to house about 1,600 men and women, mostly French prisoners, who were used as forced labour in the Daimler-Benz plants.

Another memorial was raised in the Bad Rotenfels cemetery commemorating the murder of 27 of those prisoners by their Nazi captors.

In 1969, in response to an effort to aggregate and consolidate municipal governments into districts of 20,000 or more, the state government of Baden-Württemberg approved a petition by the town of Gaggenau to annex six of its surrounding communities, thereby doubling Gaggenau's population and increasing its area fivefold.

They were all administered under the office or district of Rastatt: Bad Rotenfels, Gaggenau and Ottenau together were combined into a single administrative "village" in accordance with the Municipal Code of Baden-Württemberg.

The figures are census results (¹) or official updates of the respective statistical offices (only primary residences): ¹ Census results Gaggenau belonged to the Diocese of Speyer and was assigned to the Kuppenheim District under that Diocese.

All of the area parishes came under the newly founded Archdiocese of Freiburg in 1821/1827 and assigned to the Murgtal Office of the Dean.

The Sultan Ahmet Mosque (which belongs to the DİTİB, or the Diyanet İşleri Türk-İslam Birliği) is located in the Bad Rotenfels district and has over 200 members.

When local government was established in the 16th century, a judge-advocate was appointed for life by the Margraviate Overseer to protect the Margrave's interests.

In 1933, the Nazi policy of Gleichschaltung effectively abolished local and state government and put all German territory under national administrative control.

Florus won against candidates Alois Degler, Wolfgang Seckler and former Mayor Michael Schulz.

[7] The coat of arms of Gaggenau consists of a white representation of a Sester (an old Roman unit of measure for liquids and grain) on a red background.

In 1938, the emblem was changed again, this time with the Gaggenau Sester on top and a pruning hook below, in order to reflect the inclusion of the town of Ottenau.

Finally, as part of the municipal reform and additional village annexations of the 1970s, the emblem was restored to its original pre-20th-century design by the Interior Ministry of Baden-Württemberg.

The Baroque Catholic parish church of St. Lawrence in Bad Rotenfels was originally built in 1752–1766 by Ignaz Franz Krohmer.

In the upper village of Bad Rotenfels, at the turnoff to the hamlet of Winkel, the one-room St. Sebastian chapel was built from 1747–1752 with an open porch and roof turret and is smaller than the surrounding rural residences.

The gargoyles represent traditional characters of the Hörden Carnival: The Fürigen Barthel, the stillage and Domino.

In the district and former town of Bad Rotenfels, an old draw-well tray was rediscovered by the lower acorn mountain road by the local heritage society and restored for public display.

Gaggenau also includes a large park on the south side of the river against the forest which hosts a number of significant ruins and springs, including military fortifications dating back to the 16th century, as well as a memorial to a Nazi labor camp where some 1,600 prisoners were housed and used for forced labor.

The park includes outdoor sports facilities and marked nature paths with historical markers.

The island is connected to the town via a bridge which spans a canal used to generate hydroelectric electric power.

The Karlsruhe light rail line has also provided direct service to Gaggenau since that time.

The Badisches Tagblatt also publishes two local business news journals and a weekly magazine for the Rastatt / Murgtal areas called WO, delivered to households free of charge, with a special Murgtal weekend edition on Sunday.

Furthermore, the school complex Dachgrub Bad Rotenfels, funded by Erich Kästner-Schule, was established by the district of Rastatt.

The Baden-Württemberg Academy of Fine Arts school and amateur theater are also located in the community.