After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the Kaiserliche Marine began an expansion program to strengthen the fleet to meet the demands imposed by Germany's increased economic activities abroad and to prepare it for a potential future conflict with France.

Through the mid and late 1870s, the German fleet ordered twelve corvettes of the Bismarck and Carola classes; these vessels had limited combat capabilities, emphasizing long range cruising rather than engaging hostile cruisers.

This program began under the direction of General Albrecht von Stosch, the chief of the Kaiserliche Admiralität (Imperial Admiralty); the contract to build a new corvette, Nixe, was awarded in August 1882.

[1][2][3] Though the ships of the Carola class had not yet been completed, the Admiralität was bound by the fleet plan that had been adopted in 1873, and so despite Caprivi's preferences, construction of Nixe and the similar but larger corvette Charlotte went ahead.

Nixe in particular had an insufficiently powerful propulsion system and a too weak battery of guns, leaving her essentially useless as a combat vessel.

The historians Hans Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, and Hans-Otto Steinmetz stated that "why no one objected to the building of this ship cannot be determined from the record.

They also argued that inconclusive debates in the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) over the needs of the navy pressured the Admiralität into adhering to the plan despite the obvious shortcomings of the design.

The ship's hull was constructed with transverse iron frames with one layer of wood planks, which were sheathed with copper to prevent biofouling on extended cruises abroad, where shipyard facilities were not readily available.

The vessel was a very poor sea boat, and yawed badly when running before the wind; without her sails, the rudder had to be kept at 5–10 degrees to the leeward side to keep the ship on a straight course.

As built, Nixe was equipped with a full ship rig to supplement their steam engines on overseas cruising missions, though this was later reduced.

She took part in the annual fleet maneuvers from 6 to 28 August in the Bay of Danzig and then served as the guard ship in Wilhelmshaven for the Marinestation der Nordsee (North Sea Naval Station) from 17 September 1887 to 17 April 1888.

On 4 June, she embarked on her next major cruise to visit the West Indies and ports in Canada, arriving back in Kiel on 9 September 1889.

On 6 November, she was replaced by the corvettes Stosch and Moltke, allowing Nixe to resume her training duties before returning to Kiel on 26 March 1900.

On returning from the trip, she was decommissioned to free her crew for other purposes, as the navy was facing a shortage owing to the expedition to China to participate in the suppression of the Boxer Uprising.

Converted into a sea-going lighter and renamed Nixe, she was operated by the firm Emil Retzlaff, based in Stettin, until 1930, when she was broken up in Wewelsfleth.