The Birkenstock shoemaking dynasty can be traced back to a documented mention of Johannes Birkenstock in the year 1774.

Konrad Birkenstock invents a fully anatomically shaped shoe last, revolutionizing the shoemaking industry.

Konrad continues to pursue his vision of healthy footwear and develops a flexible insole, a stark contrast to the metal insoles common at the time.

The flexible insole “Fußbett” (footbed) is registered as a trademark. Konrad had been using this name for some of his insoles since at least 1909.

Carl Birkenstock, Konrad’s son, introduces mandatory training courses on foot health for BIRKENSTOCK retailers.

Carl first tries to patent his “ideal shoe,” a logical evolution of his father’s inventions and his own vision to create a closed shoe that meets all the requirements for healthy feet. Over the next decades Carl refines the design and handcrafts countless prototypes, but the “ideal shoe” never makes it to serial production.

Karl Birkenstock, Carl’s son, fulfills his father’s dream of a mass-producible BIRKENSTOCK shoe and launches the Original BIRKENSTOCK Footbed Sandal (later called MADRID) which is one of the brand’s core silhouettes until today.

Margot Fraser, a German American designer, discovers BIRKENSTOCK on a trip to Germany and starts selling them in the US shortly after. A few years later she founds BIRKENSTOCK Footprint Sandals Inc., the nucleus of today’s BIRKENSTOCK USA.

Karl Birkenstock introduces the ARIZONA, BIRKENSTOCK’s most iconic model and the company’s best-selling product to this day.

The first BIRKENSTOCK clog, the BOSTON, is launched. It redefined the clog category, which was associated with heavy wooden clogs at the time.

BIRKENSTOCK introduces the LONDON, the company’s first closed-toe shoe.

Marcel Goerke brings BIRKENSTOCK to Australia where he opens the country’s first store in Melbourne.

Oliver Reichert joins BIRKENSTOCK as a consultant. In 2013 he becomes CEO of the newly founded BIRKENSTOCK Group.

BIRKENSTOCK launches its first EVA-material collection, incorporating the latest manufacturing techniques.

BIRKENSTOCK opens the creative studio 1774 in Paris. 1774 designs its own elevated, high-end collections, and manages collaborations with other brands and creatives. 

BIRKENSTOCK goes public at the New York Stock Exchange, a symbolic moment marking a new chapter in the history of the global super brand.

BIRKENSTOCK celebrates two and a half centuries of function, quality and tradition. To mark this 250th anniversary, the brand publishes a series of books that showcase the company's extraordinary development.

The BIRKENSTOCK Group acquires the long-standing distributor BIRKENSTOCK Australia.