Beginning in 1878 the German industrialist Hermann Gruson's company located in Magdeburg, Germany specialized in the design and construction of armored gun turrets for fortifications.

Gruson works turrets could be found in fortifications in Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and Italy.

However, artillery pieces of any kind were in short supply during World War I, and many Fahrpanzers were removed from their fortifications and installed in forward trenches by the Germans.

The Fahrpanzer could have benefitted from continued development to equip it with such capabilities, however, the emergence of fully autonomous armored tanks on the battlefield effectively rendered the concept obsolete.

The shells were fed from inside by the two-man gun crew, who would be fully protected by the Fahrpanzer's armor until it ran out of ammunition.

The Bulgarians bought Fahrpanzers while the Italian guns were mounted in retractable turrets such as those at Colle delle Finestre.

However, due to a shortage of field artillery, the Royal Italian Army removed a number of guns from fortifications on their western border and placed them on simple two-wheeled box trail carriages for use as infantry support guns under the designation Cannone da 57/25 Gruson.