Up to the mid-fifties, motor engineering did not make it possible to build a main-line diesel locomotive with only one propulsion system and sufficient power. Consequently, the V200 and V200.1 series were built with two propulsion systems in order to meet their performance requirements. However, the manufacturers worked at full stretch on stronger motors, and already at the end of the decade, a power of 1400kW from one propulsion system was no illusion anymore. Already in 1956, the Krupp company began to develop a medium-duty mainline diesel locomotive with one motor, a steam heating system, and a Vmax of 120 km/h. In 1960, Krupp and Henschel delivered a total of ten pilot-production machines nine of which received the nickname �Lollo� due to their exterior, inspired by Gina Lollobrigida. The tenth locomotive had already a prosaic, much more angular shape and could be produced considerably cheaper and was therefore adopted for the series production. The machines stood the test in goods train service and passenger service and, after extensive testing, they were produced in series from 1964 to 1968. The companies Krupp, Henschel, KHD, Krauss-Maffei, and MaK supplied 214 series locomotives in total. They were used in the entire German Federal Territory, more and more in goods traffic following the delivery of the BR 218 locomotive and the increasing use of the electrical train heating. After the prototype locomotives had been withdrawn by 1984, the removal of the series locomotives started in 1993. More and more railcars were used in passenger service which led to a further elimination of diesel locomotives. Goods traffic declined, and the 232 series came from the East-German Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR). One locomotive of this series often replaced a double traction. By 2004, all 216-series locomotives had been decommissioned, however, many locomotives were taken over by private railway enterprises at home and abroad. In the meantime, some of the locomotives have even returned and are in use in the approximated original state. The DB Museum received the 216 003 locomotive in L�beck and the 216 067 locomotive in Koblenz.
