Overview

• SWR confirmed it will dissolve the Eisenbahn-Romantik editorial team at the end of 2025 and cease producing new episodes under that unit.
• Founder and longtime presenter Hagen von Ortloff criticized the decision in a recent YouTube appeal to the broadcaster.
• The documentary series has aired since 1991 and produced more than 1,000 episodes focused on steam locomotives and historic railways around the world.
• The program developed a loyal following and later appeared across ARD and Arte channels as well as on YouTube and the ARD Mediathek.
• Viewers associate the series with its unhurried storytelling, the Sentimental Journey theme music, and the opening images of the Ochsenhausen–Warthausen museum locomotive.