With the end of the Cold War the ship's role changed from being primarily convoy protection, submarine hunting, and general naval warfare, to include international peacekeeping and intervention missions.

From August to December 1993 she was active in the Adriatic Sea as part of NATO's Operation Sharp Guard, the maritime blockade of the former Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav Wars.

Karlsruhe next deployment was as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, from September 2006 to March 2007, followed by service in the Mediterranean and Middle East with Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 in 2008.

[1] From March to June 2016 Karlsruhe was part of Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean, during which time she rescued a total of 663 people from shipwrecks and other maritime incidents.

[7] Karlsruhe was decommissioned on 16 June 2017 and handed over to Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 71, the navy's technical weapons research division, for use as a trial and target ship.