The design provided for very stable flight, which made it extremely suitable for observation. The translucent wings made it difficult for ground observers to detect a "Taube" at an altitude above 400 meters. The first hostile engagement was by an Italian "Taube" in 1911 in Libya, its pilot using pistols and dropping grenades during the Battle of Ain Zara. The "Taube" was also used for bombing in the Balkans in 1912–13, and in late 1914 when German bomblets and propaganda leaflets were dropped over Paris. "Taube" spotter planes detected the advancing Imperial Russian Army in East Prussia during the World War I Battle of Tannenberg.