Discussions between the Design Department of the "Reichsmarineamt" (Imperial Navy Office) and other elements of the naval command on the new class had begun in 1899, before the law had been passed and before work on the "Wittelsbach"s had even begun. The most pressing issue to be settled was the caliber of the main battery. The "Wittelsbach"-class ships were armed with guns, far smaller than the standard in most other navies, which was caliber. The 24 cm guns were, however, the largest weapons for which Krupp, the supplier of naval artillery to the "Kaiserliche Marine" (Imperial Navy), had developed quick-firing technology. The German naval command typically favored high rates of fire rather than heavy shells, on the principal that a flurry of shells would wreck the guns and superstructure of enemy battleships faster than powerful but slow-firing guns. But by the time design work on the "Braunschweig" class began, Krupp had developed a quick-firing gun, and so the naval command decided to adopt it for the new ships.