The line was planned in the 1860s, though construction was not completed until the 1890s, and its purpose was at least partly strategic, to allow a means for moving military supplies around the south of the Black Forest; the German Empire having seized Alsace and Lorraine from the French in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, a revenge attack in this area from the French or a preemptive strike to prevent one were key issues in German military thinking at the time.

The southern section of the line, following the valley of the Wutach from Waldshut-Tiengen to Weizen (part of the town of Stühlingen), is relatively conventional.

Accordingly, the line proceeds in a series of curves (including one complete circle), taking 26.5 km (16.5 mi) of track to travel a beeline distance of 9.5 km (5.9 mi), with spectacular large viaducts, tunnels and bridges including the only spiral railway tunnel in Germany.

After the Deutsche Bundesbahn withdrew passenger services on the central section in 1974, a voluntary organization was set up in 1976 to re-open it as a museum line under steam traction, and it is now a popular tourist attraction.

The southern section was reopened and since January 2024 trains operate every two hours from Waldshut to Weizen (RB 37).