For the lines in the former GDR, which were upgraded to 160 km/h from 1991, the Reichsbahn and Bundesbahn jointly procured new passenger locomotives from LEW Hennigsdorf, which soon belonged to AEG again. Since the class 243 was designed for 160 km/h, the new locomotive could be derived from this with not much effort. It was initially used mostly in InterRegio service and in 1994 it was redesignated as class 112. The 1120 without LZB all came to DB Regio in 2000, as the 1121 with LZB were all handed over from DB Fernverkehr to DB Regio in 2004. 