By the 17th century, the community had grown to more than 1,000 inhabitants. However, the population shrank sharply in the Thirty Years' War and the community could never again build up to this former figure. Königsfeld could only reach the figure that it has today – roughly 1,400 – through the amalgamation of six outlying communities. After 1945, refugees driven from the formerly German lands east of the Oder and Neiße raised the population somewhat, but since the community's agriculture-based economy afforded few a livelihood, many left again to seek work in towns.