By 1915, German industry was preparing for a long war and resources were already becoming stretched, making it beneficial from both an economic and manufacturing point of view to design a replacement for the Kugelhandgranate Mod.

The body of the grenade was cast iron 8 mm (0.31 in) thick, spherical shaped and externally segmented designed to produce between 70 and 80 fragments.

The filling was a mixture of black powder, barium nitrate, and potassium perchlorate, and did not require a detonator.

The serrated portion was coated with a mixture of ground glass, manganese dioxide, and potassium chlorate.

To do this, a piece of leather was attached to the igniter with a snap hook; pulling this removed the wire so the grenade could be thrown.