The Gravita is a family of shunting locomotives introduced by Voith after the introduction of the Maxima to round off the range downwards. It is a modular construction that was available with three to six axles in different power levels and was also delivered for narrow-gauge railways on request.

Various variants of the MTU 4000 series were used as engines, which also have a modular design and deliver between 522 and 1,800 kW with 8, 12 or 16 cylinders. Like the older locomotives to be replaced, the Gravita has a load-bearing frame on which the driver's cab is located in the middle. In addition to a shunting gear, there is a road gear with which the locomotive can reach 100 km/h.

The first order from the DB included 130 Gravita 10 BB with 1,000 kW, which, like once another shunting locomotive of the Bundesbahn, was classified in the class 260. However, since the remaining orders were changed to a version with a diesel particle filter during delivery, the rest were classified in the class 261.

After the presentation of the 15L BB with 1,800 kW, the order was changed again so that 31 of them were to be delivered as the more powerful variant. They were classified in the class 265. With additional orders from some private companies, a total of 165 Gravita had been made when production ceased again. The weakest and strongest planned variants with 400 and 2,200 kW were not actually built.