"Helgoland" was ordered by the German Imperial Navy ("Kaiserliche Marine") under the provisional name "Ersatz Siegfried", as a replacement for the old coastal defense ship . The contract for the ship was awarded to Howaldtswerke in Kiel under construction number 500. Work began on 24 December 1908 with the laying of her keel, and the ship was launched less than a year later, on 25 September 1909. Fitting-out, including completion of the superstructure and the installation of armament, lasted until August 1911. "Helgoland", named for the offshore islands seen as vital to the defense of the Kiel Canal, was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 23 August 1911, just under three years from when work commenced.