Gneisenau was laid down on 3 May 1935 at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel.
She was launched on 8 December 1936, and completed on 21 May 1938.
During her launch, the ship sustained minor damage to her stern; the chains slowing her slide down the slipway broke, and the ship drifted too far and became beached on the opposite shore.
After her commissioning, Gneisenau spent the first year of her career conducting trials and training cruises in the Baltic Sea.
The cruises revealed the wetness of the bow and bridge; in January 1939 her "Atlantic bow" was installed.
Scharnhorst was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven, on 16 May 1935.
She was launched on 30 June 1936 and completed on 7 January 1939.
In mid 1939, the ship conducted trials in the Baltic Sea; as with Gneisenau, the ship's low freeboard necessitated the installation of the "Atlantic bow", which was completed in August 1939.
During that refit, a large hangar for the ship's aircraft was added amidships.
The ship emerged from the dockyard in October.

On 21 November, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, the light cruisers Köln and Leipzig, and several destroyers conducted a sweep between Iceland and the Faroe Islands; during the operation, the German ships encountered the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi; Scharnhorst sank the ship, but in the process sustained a hit from one of Rawalpindi's 152 mm guns.
Scharnhorst stopped to pick up survivors, but the arrival of the cruiser HMS Newcastle prompted the German ships to withdraw.
Gneisenau was laid down on 3 May 1935 at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel. She was launched on 8 December 1936, and completed on 21 May 1938. During her launch, the ship sustained minor damage to her stern; the chains slowing her slide down the slipway broke, and the ship drifted too far and became beached on the opposite shore. After her commissioning, Gneisenau spent the first year of her career conducting trials and training cruises in the Baltic Sea. The cruises revealed the wetness of the bow and bridge; in January 1939 her "Atlantic bow" was installed. Scharnhorst was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven, on 16 May 1935. She was launched on 30 June 1936 and completed on 7 January 1939. In mid 1939, the ship conducted trials in the Baltic Sea; as with Gneisenau, the ship's low freeboard necessitated the installation of the "Atlantic bow", which was completed in August 1939. During that refit, a large hangar for the ship's aircraft was added amidships. The ship emerged from the dockyard in October.
On 21 November, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, the light cruisers Köln and Leipzig, and several destroyers conducted a sweep between Iceland and the Faroe Islands; during the operation, the German ships encountered the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi; Scharnhorst sank the ship, but in the process sustained a hit from one of Rawalpindi's 152 mm guns. Scharnhorst stopped to pick up survivors, but the arrival of the cruiser HMS Newcastle prompted the German ships to withdraw.
Scharnhorst-class battleship