Expedition Robinson was the Central European version of Expedition Robinson. In the spring of 2000, ORF in Austria and RTL2 in Germany decided to buy the broadcasting rights to the shows Big Brother and Expedition Robinson as they wanted to begin airing a new "reality soaps" genre. Neither show was quite as big a success as RTL2 had expected, however both were renewed for a second season (Big Brother would eventually be renewed for at least ten more). Following the first season, ORF chose to no longer broadcast Expedition Robinson leaving only RTL2 to air a second season. For an unknown reason in 2001 RTL2 decided to produce a show that was almost identical to Expedition Robinson known as Gestrandet. Gestrandet proved to be a ratings failure and after 2001, Expedition Robinson no longer aired in Austria or Germany.

The name alludes to both Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson, two stories featuring people marooned by shipwrecks.