The König-class battleships were authorized in the context of the Anglo-German naval arms race, under the Second Amendment to the Naval Law, which had been passed in 1908 as a response to the revolution in naval technology created with the launch of the British HMS Dreadnought in 1906.
Many of the world's navies began building their own dreadnought battleships, which were significantly larger—and correspondingly more expensive—than the old pre-dreadnought battleships.
The Germans began their own, the Nassau class, in 1907, followed by the Helgoland class in 1908.
As a result, the funds that had been appropriated for the Navy in the First Amendment, passed in 1906, were going to be used up before they were scheduled to be replenished in 1911.

In the terms of the First Amendment to the Naval Law of 1906, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz had requested but failed to secure funding for new battleships; they had now been approved by the Reichstag under the 1908 amendment.
Along with appropriating funds to continue the pace of battleship construction prescribed under the Naval Law, the new amendment also increased the naval budget by an additional 1 billion marks.
Tirpitz had initially planned on building four new capital ships per year, including battlecruisers, but the increased cost of the new ships forced him to reduce the number of ships laid down per year to two beginning in the 1912 fiscal year and continuing through 1917.

Another effect of the 1908 amendment was to reduce the service life of all large warships from twenty-five years to twenty; this was done in an effort to force the Reichstag to allocate more funds for additional ships, since vessels would then need to be replaced sooner than originally planned.
In his effort to force the Reichstag to pass the bill, Tirpitz threatened to resign from his post as the State Secretary for the Navy.
As a result of Tirpitz's ultimatum, the bill was passed in March 1908 by a large margin.
The reduction in service life necessitated the replacement of the coastal defense ships of the Siegfried and Odin classes as well as the Brandenburg-class battleships.
The Kaiser class followed the Helgolands and replaced the remaining coastal defense ships, leaving the Brandenburgs as the next vessels to be replaced.
The four König-class ships were ordered under the provisional names "S", Ersatz Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, Ersatz Weissenburg, and Ersatz Brandenburg, the latter three as replacements for three of the four Brandenburgs.
The König-class battleships were authorized in the context of the Anglo-German naval arms race, under the Second Amendment to the Naval Law, which had been passed in 1908 as a response to the revolution in naval technology created with the launch of the British HMS Dreadnought in 1906. Many of the world's navies began building their own dreadnought battleships, which were significantly larger—and correspondingly more expensive—than the old pre-dreadnought battleships. The Germans began their own, the Nassau class, in 1907, followed by the Helgoland class in 1908. As a result, the funds that had been appropriated for the Navy in the First Amendment, passed in 1906, were going to be used up before they were scheduled to be replenished in 1911.
In the terms of the First Amendment to the Naval Law of 1906, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz had requested but failed to secure funding for new battleships; they had now been approved by the Reichstag under the 1908 amendment. Along with appropriating funds to continue the pace of battleship construction prescribed under the Naval Law, the new amendment also increased the naval budget by an additional 1 billion marks. Tirpitz had initially planned on building four new capital ships per year, including battlecruisers, but the increased cost of the new ships forced him to reduce the number of ships laid down per year to two beginning in the 1912 fiscal year and continuing through 1917.
Another effect of the 1908 amendment was to reduce the service life of all large warships from twenty-five years to twenty; this was done in an effort to force the Reichstag to allocate more funds for additional ships, since vessels would then need to be replaced sooner than originally planned. In his effort to force the Reichstag to pass the bill, Tirpitz threatened to resign from his post as the State Secretary for the Navy. As a result of Tirpitz's ultimatum, the bill was passed in March 1908 by a large margin. The reduction in service life necessitated the replacement of the coastal defense ships of the Siegfried and Odin classes as well as the Brandenburg-class battleships. The Kaiser class followed the Helgolands and replaced the remaining coastal defense ships, leaving the Brandenburgs as the next vessels to be replaced. The four König-class ships were ordered under the provisional names "S", Ersatz Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, Ersatz Weissenburg, and Ersatz Brandenburg, the latter three as replacements for three of the four Brandenburgs.
König-class battleship