The Saxon State Railways designated various light locomotives with a 2-4-0 wheel arrangement for use in front of passenger and freight trains as type II. The first type of these locomotives was procured for the state railway for lines which were either directly owned by them or were only operated by the state railway for the owner. In contrast to the locomotives of various private railways that were later procured as class II, the machines of the state railway design were built with relatively few changes. Thus, between 1854 and 1868, a total of 90 examples were built at Sächsische Maschinenfabrik Hartmann.

Some changes during production came about because the technology was developing rapidly at the time and people were also experimenting with new designs. As a result, the design of the valve gear and the transition between the boiler barrel and the smoke box was changed. The boiler pressure on the later engines was also increased to 8.5 bars. Since lignite from Bohemia was burned in some engines, these were fitted with spark arrestors to prevent fires along the line.

In the beginning, as with many other locomotives, there were only brakes on the tender; later, various systems of steam or counter-steam brakes were used. The frame remained on the inside for the entire production time, but gradually changed from a fork frame to a plate frame. 

The type name has changed several times over the years. In the beginning, all locomotives only had consecutive running numbers, whereby the type of a locomotive could only be identified by the number range. From 1871 the older 2-4-0 locomotives of the state railway were designated as H III, from 1885 as H II and from 1896 only as II. In 1900 about half of the locomotives were still in service, since the first decommissioning began in 1882. In 1914 the last ones were finally retired.