General Leo von Caprivi, the new Chef der Admiralität (Chief of the Admiralty), requested a series of design proposals, which ranged in size from small 2,500 t (2,461-long-ton) coastal defense ships to heavily armed 10,000 t (9,800-long-ton) ocean-going battleships.

Caprivi ordered ten coastal defense ships to guard the entrances to the canal, since even opponents of the navy in the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) agreed that such vessels were necessary.

For defense against torpedo boats, the ship was also equipped with a secondary battery of six 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns in single mounts.

[5][6] On 16 April 1891, she was recommissioned under the command of KzS Alfred Herz, and she joined I Division of the Maneuver Squadron, replacing the older ironclad Württemberg.

At that time, the unit also included the ironclads Baden, Bayern, and Oldenburg, under the command of Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Karl Deinhard.

During this period, between operations with the squadron, Siegfried served as a guard ship based in Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea coast.

Siegfried was ready to return to service by mid-June, and on the 29th, she escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II aboard his yacht Hohenzollern on a voyage from Kiel to Norway and then back to Wilhelmshaven.

For the next few months, she resumed guard ship duties in Wilhelmshaven, until the annual fleet maneuvers that began in late August.

Siegfried then underwent an overhaul before returning to the Maneuver Squadron, now part of II Division, where she replaced the elderly ironclad Kronprinz.

Over the summer, the Germans instituted a policy that required senior officers in other posts to undergo command training aboard the ships of the reserve divisions.

Siegfried's activities in 1897 followed a similar pattern, and that year, the ships in the reserve divisions were allowed to stop in foreign ports during their training cruises, a measure taken primarily to improve morale.

[12] She spent much of the next five years out of commission, being reactivated only to participate in the annual fleet maneuvers in 1899, 1900, and 1901 as part of II Battle Squadron each time.

[2][13] After the start of World War I in July 1914, Siegfried was mobilized along with her sisters and the two Odin-class coastal defense ships to serve in VI Battle Squadron.

Siegfried was recommissioned on 12 August under the command of KzS Hans Bene, and after the ships completed preparations, deployed to guard Germany's North Sea coast in September.

On 31 August 1915, VI Squadron was disbanded, but Siegfried remained on station in the Jade and Weser, now assigned to the local harbor defense flotillas.

[14][15] Siegfried was initially allocated to the material reserve in the event that the navy might need to reactivate her, but on 1 January 1917, she was reduced to a barracks ship in Wilhelmshaven, used to support II Seaman Division.

From 11 February 1918, the ship was used to support the patrol flotilla stationed in the mouth of the Ems; she filled this role until Germany's defeat in November.