On 29 September 1688, the French troops marched into the Palatinate of the Rhine and on 24 October moved into Heidelberg, which had been deserted by Philipp Wilhelm, the new Elector Palatine from the line of Palatinate-Neuburg.
Dne 26. avgust 1622 je Tilly začel svoj napad na Heidelberg in mesto 16. septembra zavzel in nekaj dni kasneje še grad.