After her commissioning, Baden served with the fleet on numerous training exercises and cruises in the 1880s and 1890s, during which she frequently simulated hostile naval forces.

She participated in several cruises escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II on state visits to Great Britain and to various countries in the Baltic Sea in the late 1880s and early 1890s.

The Sachsen class was the first group of capital ships built under the tenure of General Albrecht von Stosch, the first Chief of the Imperial Admiralty.

They proved to be controversial in service, as critics pointed out their poor seakeeping, tendency to roll in heavy seas, and low speed compared to earlier armored frigates.

After entering service, Baden served as the flagship for Konteradmiral (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Alexander von Monts; she was assigned to I Division alongside her three sisters.

[10][11] General Leo von Caprivi, who had recently replaced Stosch as the Chief of the Admiralty, was concerned about the prospect of a two-front war against France and Russia, and particularly of the risk of an amphibious attack on Germany's coast.

The annual fleet maneuvers held in September were cancelled on the 3rd of the month after the screw corvette SMS Sophie collided with the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer SS Hohenstaufen and was seriously damaged.

After Baden and the rest of her division returned to the Baltic Sea, they staged a mock attack on Kiel in mid-September, another coastal defense exercise.

The German fleet conducted exercises in the western Baltic, including experiments with an early electrical communication system.

The year's training maneuvers were shortened considerably in July, when Baden and much of the fleet embarked on a cruise in the Baltic that Wilhelm II attended.

While on the trip, Wilhelm met with Alexander III of Russia, Oscar II of Sweden, and Christian IX of Denmark, in the respective cities.

[17][18] After returning to Danzig on 31 July, the ships of the fleet resumed their training exercises, which began with another mock attack on Kiel to test the coastal defense system.

The ships once again made the voyage around Denmark from the Baltic to the North Sea for further coastal defense exercises in the Jade Bay, which were overseen by now-VAdm Monts.

[19] On 1 May 1889, Baden was recommissioned for the year's training cycle, once again serving as the squadron flagship of KAdm Philipp von Kall.

The year's training exercises were interrupted by the visit to Great Britain in August 1889, where Wilhelm II took part in the Cowes Regatta.

The year's training exercises passed uneventfully, though they marked the first time that the expanding German fleet could field two full torpedo-boat divisions at once.

That year, Baden and the rest of the fleet again escorted Wilhelm II on state visits to Copenhagen and Christiania, Norway.

[21] During the fleet maneuvers of 1890, Baden and the rest of the capital ships of I and II Divisions simulated a Russian attack on Kiel.

The exercises were held in conjunction with IX Corps of the German Army, several divisions of which acted as a simulated amphibious invasion.

Following the conclusion of the exercises on 12 September, the Maneuver Fleet was once again disbanded, and Baden returned to duty as a guard ship in Kiel.

During a training cruise in the Baltic in January 1892 after the squadron reformed, Baden ran lightly aground off Langeland but was quickly refloated and was not damaged in the accident.

At the same time, KzS Claussen von Fink replaced Hornung as the ship's commander, though he remained in the position for just three months before he died.

The fleet's training activities were interrupted in early June by another visit by the Russian tsar, during which Alexander III came aboard Baden in Kiel.

Also in 1892, Baden and Bayern received a new blue-gray paint scheme on an experimental basis; it would later be applied to all vessels in home waters in 1895.

[31] On 9 April 1895, Baden took part in attempts to pull the protected cruiser SMS Kaiserin Augusta free after she had run aground in the Kieler Förde.

In June, the ship took part in exercises with the rest of the squadron and ceremonies later in the month marking the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal after eight years of construction.

Five days earlier, the ship accidentally collided with the mole in Kiel and had to be docked briefly to repair the damage incurred in the incident.

On 24 June 1898, the ship was involved in another accident, this time colliding with the protected cruiser Hertha, though neither vessel was seriously damaged in the minor collision.

Following the conclusion of the exercises on 15 September, the squadron was disbanded and Baden reverted to the Reserve Division of the North Sea, based in Wilhelmshaven.

Baden served as the flagship of II Squadron for the autumn fleet maneuvers that year, flying the flag of Ernst Fritze, who had by then been promoted to the rank of konteradmiral.