Birkenstock
Birkenstock Holding plc is a German shoe manufacturer known for its sandals and other shoes notable for contoured cork footbeds, made with layers of suede and jute, which conform to the shape of their wearers' feet. Founded in 1774 by Johann Adam Birkenstock and headquartered in Neustadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the company's original purpose was to create shoes that support and contour the foot, compared to the flat soles of many shoes during that time. In 1896, the Fussbett was designed, and by 1925, Birkenstocks were sold all over Europe.
In 1966, Margot Fraser first brought Birkenstocks to America. In the United States, they were sold in health stores, thus becoming associated with hippies in the 1970s.
History
Early years
The history of the Birkenstock "shoemaking dynasty" can be traced back to the first documented mention of Johannes Birkenstock, registered on 25 March 1774, as a "vassal and shoemaker" in local church archives in the small Hessian village of Langen-Bergheim. Since that time, there have been five generations of master shoemakers or part-time shoemakers, several lines of the Birkenstock family working in the shoemaking trade and finally three generations of shoe manufacturers. In 1774, Johannes Birkenstock had already trained as a shoemaker and settled in the small Hessian town of Langen-Bergheim; he became a master shoemaker shortly afterwards. After his younger brother Johann Adam Birkenstock died in 1790, his son Johannes grew up with his uncle Johannes and also became a master shoemaker.His grandson, Konrad Birkenstock, left the Wetterau after also training as a shoemaker and opened an orthopaedic shoemaker's workshop in Frankfurt am Main in 1896 and founded Konrad Birkenstock GmbH a year later. Konrad Birkenstock developed the first contoured insole for use by shoemakers in the production of custom footwear. His success in orthopaedic circles with his insoles and health shoes and the satisfaction of his customers did not lead to financial success. The inventor Konrad Birkenstock concentrated too much on the further development of his material mix in order to further develop healthy walking. When he himself was called to the orthopaedic workshop of the Friedrichsheiner Klinik in Frankfurt am Main – and therefore did not have to do military service – he relocated his business activities. In 1915, Konrad Birkenstock acquired a house in Friedberg, where the production of insoles now took place. In 1925 Konrad Birkenstock acquired the Derfelt soap factory in Friedberg, Hesse, thereby expanding production.
As a master orthopaedic shoemaker, Konrad Birkenstock invented a fully plastic last as early as 1897 and a fully plastic flexible insole in 1902. Shoes made on this last and with this insole were called "health footwear" by Konrad Birkenstock. With this invention, Konrad Birkenstock had followed the ideas of the shoe reform, which, in keeping with the times, rethought the human body. His flexible insoles, developed along the same lines for healing purposes, differed from the rigid insoles made of metal that were common at the time. In 1914, Konrad Birkenstock's insoles were recognized as orthopaedic remedies for the first time. He gave two of these insoles the name "footbed". In 1925, Konrad Birkenstock was able to register the "Fussbett" trademark. In the 1920s, Birkenstock insoles were already being supplied to Austria, France, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
Konrad Birkenstock had three sons and one daughter. Over the course of time, they all became involved in the manufacture of orthopaedic insoles, in different companies and in different family constellations. His eldest son Carl followed in Konrad Birkenstock's footsteps during the First World War. He visited specialist shoe stores and shoemakers and explained to them the use and effect of the "Birkenstock system", as the combination of a fully plastic last and flexible footbed was soon called. Carl continued to develop his father's deposits, was active with his own business in Vienna from 1923 to 1926 and founded Geb. Birkenstock GmbH in Steinhude am Meer together with his brothers Heinrich and Konrad Jr. in 1929. From 1939, Carl Birkenstock continued to run the company, which at that time had 13 employees, alone without his brothers. Carl Birkenstock took the idea of foot health even further than his father and limited sales of his insoles to specialist retailers and shoemakers who had successfully completed his training course. Although he managed to get over 6,000 people to attend this course, this approach still limited his sales options in the long term. However, it was important to him that his flexible insoles were fitted correctly in order to achieve the effect of a foot-health-preserving insole. He wanted to avoid incorrect use at all costs.
Carl Birkenstock joined the Nazi Party in 1940. Carl continued to sell insoles at least until 1943. There is no evidence of forced laborers in the Birkenstock family companies, which is not surprising given the small size of the companies and the non-war-related production. The largest Birkenstock company, Gebr. Birkenstock GmbH in Steinhude im Meer, employed 13 people during the National Socialist era, including the owners, 6 of whom were drafted into the Wehrmacht. There were no supply contracts between Birkenstock and the Wehrmacht, the Nazi Party or its organizations, though Birkenstock did attempt to gain government contracts in the early '30s, pitching his products to Hitler Youth and testing his insoles on SS members. Sales during the National Socialist era were made to private individuals, often soldiers. Birkenstock therefore did not do any business with the NSDAP, other party organizations or the Wehrmacht itself; he did not have any materials or deposits checked on the Schuhprüfstrecke of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Birkenstock did not profit by the company or the family "Aryanizing" Jewish property, i.e. by acquiring real estate or assets from Jewish ownership at favourable prices. Even during the National Socialist era, Carl Birkenstock was busy perfecting his idea of "natural walking". Though in 1943, he would try to enlist in the Sturmabteilung but would not be accepted. Like the entire entrepreneurial family, he was not a delicate entrepreneur. This robustness led to numerous conflicts within the family, with competitors and with members of the NSDAP. Birkenstock was neither an ideologically convinced National Socialist nor a hero. Even though he wanted to do something good for mankind with his healthy footwear, his dealings with individuals were robust.
After World War II, the Birkenstock sandal was popular among returning soldiers because of the orthopaedic support. After 1945, Carl Birkenstock continued to pursue his idea of his handmade healthy footwear at his new headquarters in Bad Honnef near Bonn. He wanted to make this "ideal shoe" suitable for mass production, which he tried to realize together with shoe manufacturers until 1961, when he abandoned this idea and retired to writing books on foot health. During this time, the still very small company earned money through the successful sale of the "Blue Footbed" orthopaedic insole. In 1954, Carl's only son, Karl, joined his father's company. While his grandfather Konrad and father Carl Birkenstock worked all their lives on producing orthopaedic insoles that were as individualized as possible for the wearer, the young Karl Birkenstock succeeded in making healthy footwear mass-produced in 1962 with the invention of a standardized, permanently installed, anatomically shaped insole.
In 1963, Karl Birkenstock released his first model, the "Original Birkenstock Footbed Sandal", an athletic sandal with a flexible footbed, which has been called "Madrid" since 1979, laying the foundation for the company's expansion since the 1970s. The shoe was constructed so that the wearer would have to grip their toes to keep the sandals on; this resulted in toning the calf muscle, which became quite useful to athletes, especially among gymnasts. However, the market launch in 1963 was a disaster. No shoe retailer wanted to offer the gender-neutral sandal, which was diametrically opposed to the shoe fashion trend of the time - Italian stilletos - and consequently, orders failed to materialize. The first sales were made through direct marketing in the medical sector. Birkenstock Orthopädie GmbH, as the company was now called, was run jointly by Karl and his wife Gisela. The number of employees in 1970 was 57.
Margot Fraser and introduction to U.S.
In 1966, Margot Fraser, a German-American dressmaker who resided in Santa Cruz, California, decided to visit a spa in Bavaria, where she was recommended Madrids to help with a foot ailment caused by tight shoes. Due to Fraser's relief from her foot condition and her enthusiasm for the sandals, Birkenstocks were introduced in the United States—though some hurdles stood in the way of their eventual acceptance by American buyers. Many shoe stores rejected the sandals due to their appearance, leading Fraser to health stores near the granola section. The 1970s brought a spike in sales.In the United States, Birkenstocks were first popular among young men and later on among flower children, a group traditionally associated with American liberalism. The shoe became popular with hippies and others who had a "back to nature" philosophy and appreciated the natural foot shape and foot-friendly comfort of Birkenstocks. Hippies and representatives of the tech movement in California discovered the shoes as an expression of the unconventional. In the 1970s, Fraser successfully continued to sell them from organic supermarkets and quickly expanded with her company, Birkenstock Footprint Sandals, Inc., in Novato, California, which later became Birkenstock USA, in the largest market for Birkenstocks since the 1980s.
Birkenstock sandals became popular in Germany in the 1980s. Since the 1960s, Birkenstock sandals had become popular in the care professions and in the alternative and peace movement, and then also in "middle-class" households as slippers and leisure shoes. They were not developed for the medical sector, but were designed from the outset for young and old as well as all types of occupations and leisure activities. Although derided at the shoe trade fair in 1963, Karl Birkenstock developed the closed sandal "Zürich" the following year, followed by the strappy sandal "Roma" in 1965, the low shoe "Oslo" and the boot "Athen" in the second half of the 1960s. A first plastic model - the "Noppy" massage sandal - saw the light of day in the new decade. In 1973, Birkenstock's most popular sandal, Arizona, was introduced. This was followed in 1976 by the first cork clog, the "Boston", and finally in 1983 by the range of thong sandals, including the "Gizeh".