The DW type steam railcars were developed for the Royal Württemberg State Railways from 1893, but a few examples were also built for the Baden State Railways. They were also known under the name “Kittel steam railcar”, which can be traced back to the Württemberg chief engineer Eugen Kittel.

A sample and six production vehicles were equipped with a boiler according to Henri Serpollet's patent. Unlike other boilers, this one did not have a water supply, but only the amount of steam that was currently required was generated directly by evaporation on the hot walls. Despite its low weight, it was not convincing. For this reason, Kittel developed its own type of upright boiler, with which the existing cars were equipped. Since these proved themselves, Württemberg ordered ten more vehicles with the new boiler, and an order for eight vehicles in almost identical design also came from Baden.

The railcars were mainly used on small branch lines with low passenger numbers in the area of the two operators. When the Reichsbahn took them over, they were given the numbers 9 to 14. In the 1930s, most of the examples were either retired or sold to private railways. A vehicle arrived in France in 1945 and remained in service there until 1953.