After the testing of electric locomotives in Central Germany was completed, the Prussian State Railways ordered new machines for different train types. In 1912, ten locomotives with the numbers ES 9 to ES 18 were procured for express trains, which were followed by a further order for the ES 19 in the following year.

In order to be able to guarantee good running characteristics in both directions of travel and at the same time sufficient traction for heavier express trains, the wheel arrangement 1-C-1 was chosen. On the side, which usually formed the front, the carrying axle was connected to the first coupled axle to form a Krauss-Helmholtz bogie. On the other hand, a simpler Adams axle was used for the rear carrying axle. 

The arrangement of the machinery was unusual in that the main transformer was located at the rear of the locomotive, still behind the second driver's cab. The interior of the engine room was occupied by a coal-fired steam boiler in addition to the single traction motor with a stator diameter of 3,200 mm. The latter proved to be not powerful enough to heat the entire train, so it was removed from all locomotives by 1925. The traction motor drove a jackshaft between the second and third coupled axles via an inclined connecting rod under the locomotive body. Despite a driving wheel diameter of only 1,350 mm, speeds of up to 110 km/h were possible, which were accompanied by high engine speeds.

The outbreak of the First World War delayed the delivery of the machines considerably. Since electrical operations in Central Germany had also been discontinued at this time, the locomotives were relocated from the Halle depot to the Nieder Salzbrunn depot in Silesia. There they had to perform services that were above their reasonable load limit. Because of the poorer manufacturing quality and often neglected maintenance during wartime, there were many defects and failures. After the end of the war they came back to Central Germany and were mainly used in front of passenger trains. Ten of the eleven locomotives received the new designation E 01 in 1926, but decommissioning had already begun and the last machine was retired in 1929.