When the "Deutsche Reichsbahn" (DRG) was founded after the First World War, they inherited a number of regional locomotives which were all of different designs. In 1922 the DRG set up a standardisation authority to rationalise the building of new locos. For a long time the German Locomotive manufacturers had recognised the great advantages to be gained by using parts which would be common to more than one type of locomotive.
There was a requirement for a powerful express locomotive which, in view of the foregoing requirements, led to the development of the first standardised express locomotive. It reached a power of 2240 HP and a maximum speed of 130 km/h. The first of these locos was handed over in 1925. The manufacturers Borsig, Henschel, Hohenzollern, Schwartzkopf, AEG and Krupp continued the production until 1938. The locos were subject to continuous improvements and, therefore, had small superficial differences from one to the other. 50 of them were fitted with new boilers after 1945 and the large Wagner smoke deflectors were replaced by the smaller Witte type. The locos of class 01 were designed to haul heavy express traffic in flat country and completely fulfilled their expectations. Built by Henschel in 1935, the 01 150 was used on routes in the low mountain range areas of Hessia and Thuringia and later in Bavaria. It was taken out of service in November 13, 1973, and sold to the textile manufacturer W. Seidensticker. The loco came back on DB tracks in 1985 during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the German railways. Now it belongs to the railway museum of Nuremberg as a part of the inventory of operating museum vehicles.
