In the early 18th century, the town was plagued by attacks from the "Kuruczes", described by Geiringer as "the peasant army of the anti-Habsburg Hungarian party". In 1704, they plundered the town and burned homes, returning to do the same in 1706; a further attack took place in 1707. A resident who lost his house to the flames in both 1704 and 1706 was Lorenz Koller (born 1675), who was the Marktrichter (roughly, mayor) of the town and the maternal grandfather of Joseph Haydn (see below).