 After 1685, many Huguenots – known locally as "Welsche" – who had been driven out of France for their beliefs, came to settle in Neckarsteinach.They were clothmakers and tanners, and with their skills, the town underwent an upswing offsetting some of the losses from the wars that had taken their toll.In the early 18th century, Neckarsteinach was quarters and a field hospital site in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738) and the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) for troops engaged in these wars.