The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a battery (10) in which at least one battery module (12) having a plurality of battery cells (14) is provided. A cooling device (26) is selected depending on whether liquid cooling or cooling by a gaseous medium is intended for the at least one battery module (12). Depending on the selection, at least one first heat sink (26), through which a cooling liquid can flow, or at least one second heat sink, through which a gaseous medium can flow, is arranged on the at least one battery module (12) as the cooling device. The invention further relates to a battery arrangement and a modular system for producing a battery (10).