Commerce did not recover from that for a long time. Only in 1714 could people begin rebuilding. Also during the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738)), the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) the troops marched through St. Wendel so requisitions had to be paid. Only in the middle of the 18th century could the residents start to relax again. The development in urban building had long been marked by a huge contrast between the high population density of the wall-encircled city centre and the low population density outside the wall. Now the wall was gone and the city started to grow. Commerce, especially the wool and leather industries, grew again. There were huge companies with over 100 weaving machines. Merchants from Saarbrücken and Strassburg met their needs for good cloth while the tanneries took their products to the fair in Frankfurt. A wealthy upper class developed, as well as many gorgeous residential and commercial buildings. The basilica was provided with a three-layered baroque dome. Besides many urban building activities took place, for example roads, the area around the castle, moving the cemetery away from the basilica to outside the former city wall. During the French revolutionary wars St. Wendel suffered plundering and requisitions from the troops of both sides. Wool weavers and tanners had to pay socage, a special kind of tax. The introduction of freedom of trade replaced the old rules of the guilds, putting many masters out of business, as prices were no longer fixed so blunderers could work below price. From 1798, the canton St. Wendel belonged to the French Saardepartement. Eventually wealth was returning to the slowly but surely growing town. In the Kelsweilerstrasse, the upper city gate was broken down and a bridge over the river Blies was erected in today's Bahnhofstrasse. In 1814, Duke Ernst III of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later Duke Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) received the cantons St. Wendel, Grumbach and Baumholder (together about 20,000 residents) for his performance during the French Revolutionary Wars. Beginning in 1816 he called this area the "Principality of Lichtenberg", which is still seen today in the borders of the evangelical church community of St. Wendel. The government was economically successful, but it tried to control the jurisdiction, and the trust of the Lichtenbergers in their independent government disappeared. Creating a Landrat (senate for the district), the general public hoped