After the war, both German railways developed a new steam locomotive from the prototypes of the advanced class 23 of 1941 in order to supplement their fleets, which had been decimated by the war, and to be able to replace the Prussian P 8 in the long term. While the variant of the Bundesbahn carried numbers from 23 001, the East German Reichsbahn gave their variant numbers from 23 1001.

The East German locomotives only shared the basic dimensions with the original class 23. They used the same boiler as the class 50⁴⁰ freight locomotives that had a combustion chamber and feed water heater. Instead of bar frames, both classes used plate frames. The leading axle and the first driving axle formed a Krauss-Helmholtz bogie and the trailing axle was in a more simple Bissel frame. After two prototypes, 111 production locomotives were built in 1958 and 1959 which had Trofimoff valves for better idle running.

On the level, these locomotives could reach their top speed of 110 km/h with trains of up to 365 tonnes. On inclines of one percent, they reached 60 km/h with 335 tonnes. In service, they could often be seen with the new articulated double-decker sets. Additionally, this class was also used for light and medium express service. In 1970, they became class 35¹⁰. Between 1973 and 1977, the entire class was withdrawn from regular service, although one was reactivated in the eighties due to the oil crisis and subsequently used for excursion trips until 1992. Today six are still existing, with only 35 1097 still being in working condition.