In the first years of World War II, the German military forces had less interest in developing self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, but as the Allies began to gain air superiority, the need for more mobile and better-armed self-propelled anti-aircraft guns increased.

During the early summer of 1944, SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Wilhelm Krause with the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend came up with the concept of the Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind.

[1] He presented the concept to SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche, commanding officer of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment and it was approved by Adolf Hitler.

Thus a more powerful successor, with an armament that hit harder and at longer range, was produced which eventually replaced it.

Known as the Flakpanzer IV Ostwind ("East Wind"), the successor was equipped with a single 3.7 cm Flak 43.