on the part of its subject territory and ultimately took possession of the titles itself. During an epidemic of the plague in 1541 around 180 people died, a total of one fourth of the town's residents. By 1611 the population climbed to a peak of 930, reaching a level not seen in two hundred years. The last and severest of plague epidemics struck in September 1667 and lingered until January 1669, during which time 514, over 60 percent of the population, perished. An accident of note occurred on September 1, 1626, when a ship on its way to Zurzach capsized on the Aare. Over 100 people, included 47 from Brugg, drowned in the incident. It was only in 1840 that the town's population returned to that of 1611. Artisanry and craftsmanship were predominant trades at this point in Brugg's history. They catered primarily to the needs of the surrounding area and, along with the increasing expansion of transportation routes, to travelers. This was particularly so after the construction of a road over the Bözberg Pass between 1773 and 1779. No guilds of any political significance existed in town at this time. In the 18th century the salt trade grew in importance. The Salt House (Salzhaus), constructed in 1732, was one of the largest salt depots in the Swiss Confederation. It supplied not only Bernese Aargau, but the neighboring districts of the Freie Ämter (Free Bailiwicks) and County of Baden as well. After the beginning of the French Revolution, demands for equality and rights found a great deal of support in town. As the French proceeded through Swiss territory and the end of Bern's rule drew near at the beginning of 1798, a revolutionary committee seized power. On April 12, 1798, General Guillaume Marie Anne Brune proclaimed the Helvetic Republic. The Nineteenth Century Under the centralized government of the Helvetic Republic cantons were purely administrative entities, which were in turn divided into districts and municipalities. Brugg thus lost all of its previously privileges and became a district capital in the canton of Aargau. The revolutionary atmosphere that had followed the declaration of the Helvetic Republic dissipated rapidly in 1799. Responsible for this sudden shift was the War of the Second Coalition, during which the battlefront ran directly through the Aare Valley and hundreds of French soldiers were quartered in houses in the town. When the French withdrew from Switzerland for a