Our history


In 1919, Otto Bock not only founded a company with Orthopädische Industrie GmbH in Berlin but also fundamentally changed the industry. It was the component manufacturing process he introduced that made it possible to supply with sufficient speed the large number of injured returning from World War I.

That very same year, political unrest in Berlin contributed to the relocation of the new company to Königsee in the Thuringian Forest.

The company grew to employ more than 600 people. Under Soviet occupation, a plan was initially developed to establish another branch as close to Königsee as possible but in the British zone in order to secure subsequent deliveries to customers by bartering products for materials. Dr. Max Näder, the son-in-law of Otto Bock, founded this Duderstadt branch in 1947 from practically nothing and developed it with his wife Maria Näder.

When the family company in Königsee was expropriated without compensation in 1948, Dr. Max Näder and a group of dedicated employees began establishing production in Duderstadt on the Euzenberg under extremely difficult conditions and starting with nothing.

In Duderstadt, the search for alternative materials to poplar wood used up to that point led to the development of a synthetic material by Dr. Max Näder. In addition to orthopaedics technology applications, this material also proved to be extremely well suited for industries such as furniture production and automobile suppliers.

Thus 1953 marked the birth of Otto Bock Kunststoff Holding, which is now a global company. Otto Bock himself did not live to see this day; he passed away that same year and was buried in Duderstadt.

In the critical times of the Cold War, the early internationalisation of Otto Bock meant that the future of the family company was protected by establishing several branches around the globe. After the construction of the Berlin Wall, the border to the GDR increasingly became a death zone.

The unexpected opening of the border on November 9-10, 1989 also abruptly changed the situation for Otto Bock. After buying back the former property in Königsee, the entrepreneurial family built a highly modern production facility for wheelchairs and mobility aids there starting in 1992.

But this is not the only reason Otto Bock, with its head office in South Lower Saxony, has also once again become a Thuringian company. Nearly half of the employees in Duderstadt now come from the new federal states, mainly from Obereichsfeld. In 1990, Dr. Max Näder handed over management to his son Professor Hans Georg Näder. He rapidly expanded the global network and promoted research and development as well as sales and marketing.


The company now owns subsidiaries in 40 countries around the world. With the help of this global distribution network, leading Otto Bock technology is being exported to over 140 countries.