Kaiser Wilhelm II, the emperor of Germany, believed a strong navy was necessary for the country to expand its influence outside continental Europe. He initiated a program of naval expansion in the late 1880s; the first battleships built under this program were the four "Brandenburg"-class ships. These were immediately followed by the five "Kaiser Friedrich III"-class battleships, of which "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" was the third. Her keel was laid on 22 January 1898 at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, as construction number 22. She was ordered under the contract name "Ersatz König Wilhelm", to replace the obsolete armored frigate . Her scheduled launching on 29 April 1899 was delayed to 1June after a large fire at the shipyard damaged the slipway. Louise, the Grand Duchess of Baden, christened the ship after her father Wilhelm I of Germany, the ship's namesake. Wilhelm II gave the launching speech for the ship commemorating his grandfather. After completing fitting-out work, dockyard sea trials began on 19 February 1901, followed by acceptance trials beginning 18 March. These were completed by May, and she was formally commissioned on 5May. That year, Erich Raeder—who went on to command the "Kriegsmarine" in World War II—was promoted to serve as a watch officer aboard her.