The Hamburg Flyer, a train consisting of two cars – each having a driver's cab and passenger cabin – was ordered by the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft in 1932 from Waggon- und Maschinenbau AG Görlitz (WUMAG).

The train was streamlined after wind tunnel experiments, a sort of research which was pioneered by the developers of the high-speed interurban railcar Bullet a couple of years before.

As a sign of its exclusivity, the Hamburg Flyer was painted cream and violet – like the coaches of the Rheingold Express train.

The success of this design led Henschel to develop the streamlined and steam-powered Henschel-Wegmann Train in 1935 which boasted comparable performances on the routes between Berlin and Dresden.

A set of the Series SVT 137, which had previously been refitted for DDR government use, is preserved complete at Leipzig station.