In the immediate aftermath of the First Schleswig War against Denmark, Prince Adalbert began drawing up plans for the future of the Prussian Navy; the war with Denmark made clear the need for a larger fleet to guard the Prussian coast and defend maritime trade.

At the same time, on 14 November, Adalbert's cousin, King Friedrich Wilhelm, ordered the creation of the Prussian Admiralty.

The organization was nominally run by Otto Theodor von Manteuffel, the Minister President of Prussia, but it was in reality actually controlled by Adalbert.

In April 1855, the Admiralty presented its plan, which laid its objectives at creating a navy directed against Denmark, Prussia's principal enemy at sea.

The first question that confronted the naval leadership was whether to purchase vessels from foreign builders or to design the new ships domestically.

Up to that point, Prussia had largely acquired warships from British shipyards, beginning with the Nix-class avisos in 1851.

The king approved the plan, and the navy sent the shipwright Felix Devrient and draftsman Theophile Guyot to Britain to gather information and prepare designs for the frigate and a smaller corvette.

In October 1854, the Swede Johan Gjerling became Prussia's chief naval constructor, and his proposal was ultimately selected the following year.

Each ship carried a number of smaller boats, including one launch, two pinnaces, one cutter, one yawl, and two dinghies.

To supplement the steam engine on long voyages abroad, they carried a three-masted full-ship rig with a total surface area of 2,200 m2 (24,000 sq ft).