Baden Mainline
Under article 1 of the Baden Railway Act of 1838, the Baden Mainline from Mannheim to Basel would be built "close to the mountains." That made it possible to run through the large town of Freiburg by using the route of the Rhine Valley Railway that was eventually built (red), rather than using one of the direct routes considered (orange). Nevertheless, none of the alternatives considered for the railway would have given a connection to Staufen (because of the hilly terrain around the Schlossberg) and to Sulzburg (because of its location in a valley of the Black Forest). Therefore, both town became increasingly marginalised economically as industry was established on the railway and many inhabitants of the outlying towns then moved to the railway towns.