Hamburg – 1885
It was a good time for creative heads, when Heinrich Ad. Berkemann arrived in Hamburg in 1880. Many new businesses were founded here like everywhere in Germany during the Wilhelmine era. As a shoemaker journeyman, he had learned the skills and secrets of his craft with different masters – and on July 8th, he registered his own business in the trade office of the Hanseatic city. This is how one of the most successful German business stories started.
His claim to produce not only beautiful but also comfortable and well-fitting shoes quickly spread. And soon, ingenuity joined quality. With the first serially produced orthopaedic insole, Heinrich Ad. Berkemann caused a sensation at the Hamburg shoemakers' trade fair in 1903. His business was thus the first supplier of supporting arch bridges in the world.
The business grew rapidly. The workshop soon became a small business and supplied exhibitions, received prices for various supporting arch bridge models, and acquired the first customers abroad.
From 1911 onwards, Walter Berkemann was trained in his father's business as the first apprentice. Soon afterwards, his younger brother Hans joined the business after having received a commercial education. After the death of their father in 1923, Walter and Hans took over the operation and led the company through the difficult post-war years and the time of the Great Depression.
In spite of all difficulties, the Berkemann company remained an up-and-coming business and starting 1932 even published its own company newspaper, the "Brücke" (the bridge). They moved into a seven-storied office and factory building in Gerhofstraße, above which the BERKEMANN signature shone forth from then on.
Thanks to the successful combination of technical ability and commercial skills, the company was back on a good path even after the end of WWII. Berkemann became part of the German economic miracle of the 1950s! The Original Sandal was the first best seller in company history and marked the advance into new economic and shoe-making dimensions. With the Original Sandal, revenue increases of up to fifty percent were initially generated. The Berkemann sandal appeared on innumerable advertising posters and in hundreds of adverts, and even on television. Swedish princesses and German Olympians, pop stars and other celebrities posed with the sandal.
Beside the Original Sandal, it is the Toeffler that also became a classic. With its thick sole made of light-weight poplar wood, it has been ensuring an optimal foot climate since 1964.
Employees were able to celebrate the 25millionth sold pair of the Berkemann sandal already in 1970. It was the year in which the company built a plant outside of Hamburg for the first time, namely in Steinalben in the Palatinate. Due to the success of the Original Sandal and the Toeffler, additional production facilities were soon being built, among others in Austria and Latin America.
The 1980s introduced computer technology into work life and production also at Berkemann – and saw the development of the ultimate heavyweight in Berkemann advertising: the Haribo Toeffler! Just as delicious was the second model for success of this unusual advertising cooperation with HARIBO GmbH und Co. KG: the 1.5 kg box of gummy bears, or rather: gummy toefflers.
In 2005, preparations began for the move to Zeulenroda. The new location offered not only a newly built logistics centre guaranteeing more efficient dispatch of the shoes; the employees at Berkemann could now also concentrate on the key areas development, sales and customer care, since the Bauerfeind AG has its headquarters here and unites various divisions under its roof. Thus re-positioned, it was easy to recognise the great brand potential of Berkemann in the area of fashionable comfort shoes and medical health shoes, so the company moved as independent company into its own, new premises in Greizer Straße in October 2007. In the renovated and listed building of the former Römpler hosiery knitting mill, a new chapter started in the history of the once again autonomous company. Thomas Bauerfeind took over the majority management and already placed the focus for the new collection on Berkemann's core competences: tradition, innovation, and highest quality - for an integrated sense of well-being.
However, the stated aim at Berkemann remains unchanged: to continue to retain customer trust in the proven products, open up new markets and offer innovative products, thus leading the German brand with the long tradition successfully through the 21st century.
Including in the anniversary year 2010, in which Berkemann celebrated the 125th anniversary of its foundation with a large customer event and more than 600 guests in Hamburg (photo album), the company was gearing up for the future. For example, in the summer Berkemann invested about EUR 1.3 million in its own foam machine for PU soles, thus continuing on its path of consistent insourcing in order to be able to offer "production from a single source". The eventful year closed with the acquisition of Solidus, the shoe manufacturer from Tuttling with a long tradition, which will consolidate Berkemann's market position strategically and operationally in the medium term. Both companies will remain at their locations with their respective brands and are counting on future synergy effects, for example in the area of sole production and the combined purchase of basic materials, and are focusing on recognising and implementing processes that seem advisable for both brands.