[1] Of European powers that included Britain and France, Germany provided the most significant foreign aid to the Ottoman Empire in its state of 19th and 20th century decline.

Pressel and Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz, a military adviser, were the leaders of initiating contact to raise funds.

Pressel and Goltz spent time touring the country and learning its customs; after this, they made the Railway their top priority, believing that improving the state of the Turkish people would benefit both the Ottoman Empire and Germany.

[4] At this time, Pressel pressured both Berlin and Istanbul to get the railway project off the ground, even going to would-be financiers praising "the richness of Anatolia".

Although Bismarck officially rejected the "Pressel Project" on behalf of the German government (although he personally approved of it), Kaulla and Siemens submitted their own bid to the sultan, who accepted.