In the area of the Soviet occupation zone and later the GDR, there were numerous narrow-gauge railways of various gauges and ownership forms, stretching from the Baltic Sea coast to southern Saxony and from the Harz Mountains to the Spreewald. The allied victorious power, the USSR, dismantled some lines and transported the tracks and vehicles eastward. Years later, the GDR also began to shift its modes of transport: all narrow-gauge railways were to be dismantled. However, it was then recognized that some lines offered tourist potential and should therefore be preserved. Since 1990, EK-Verlag has been publishing the chapter "Narrow Gauge through the Reichsbahn Land" annually in the EK series "The DR 25 Years Ago." The well-known EK author Wilfried Rettig has compiled a chronicle of the DR narrow-gauge railways operated between 1965 and 1990 from several publications.