Prussian House of Representatives
On 18 December 1872 the Prussian government presented a plan for the construction of the Berlin–Wetzlar railway to the Prussian House of Representatives. An act “for the issuing of a bond in the amount of 120 million Thalers to extend, complement and improve the equipment of the state railway network of 11 June 1873”, known as the "Kanonenbahngesetz" (“Cannons Railway Act”) authorised the construction of the railway using French reparations and authorising bonds to be raised for the line.