in 1863, representatives of the oberamts (the districts of the time) of calw and nagold requested that their districts be connected to the railway network. christian maier, chief official of the oberamt of leonberg, agreed and suggested a route through leonberg and weil der stadt. but the oberamt of böblingen wanted the benefits of a new railway and the member for böblingen, otto elben, presented the parliament of württemberg with his plan for a line from böblingen. the heads of the oberamts of the black forest distanced themselves from this discussion. whether the line ran via böblingen or leonberg seemed secondary to them. there were long debates in the parliament. the member for leonberg was obliged to give parliament an assurance that agriculture and trade was more important in the oberamt of leonberg. it is debatable whether he persuaded parliament or the members just decided to pick the less expensive proposal. parliament decided with a slim majority on 13 august 1865 to pick the option that passed through the strohgäu, thus securing a rail link for leonberg.