While Effingen, Elfingen and Zeihen agreed with large majorities at the time, Bözen and Hornussen rejected the corresponding application.

In June 2017, the municipal assemblies of Bözen, Effingen, Elfingen and Hornussen approved the start of official merger clarifications and the formation of working groups.

[2] In a consultative survey, the narrow majority of respondents opted for "Oberes Fricktal" as the future community name (other possible answers were "Rebthal", "Böztal" and "Unterberg").

After the results were presented in January 2019, there was criticism from several surrounding communities, as the intended name could lead to confusion with the region of the same name, which covers a much larger area.

[4] On 27 June 2019, the municipal assemblies of Bözen, Effingen, Elfingen and Hornussen approved the merger agreement.