From traditional shoe stronghold to innovative footwear hub

What have two regiments of grenadiers got to do with Pirmasens, Germany’s shoe-making capital? Landgrave Ludwig IX of Hesse-Darmstadt moved the soldiers there in 1740 and their bored wives, far from home and the delights of Darmstadt, started making shoes. News of these high-quality hand-crafted shoes spread fast, and a new industry was born. In the 19th century, the Pirmasens-based industry was a first mover in the industrialisation of shoe production. Nowadays, this innovative spirit is still driving Rhineland-Palatinate’s footwear industry.

Luxury sneakers and safety footwear, women’s fashions and crepe-soled comfort shoes, barefoot wear and vegan shoes – Rhineland-Palatinate’s footwear industry has the lot. The current wealth of trendy designs, 3D expertise and manufacturing talent is not there by chance.

Germany’s first-ever shoe factory was set up in Pirmasens in 1838. In the late 1960s, half of Germany’s outdoor footwear output came from that city. In the 1970s, Rhineland-Palatinate’s footwear industry was once again a first mover in recognising the opportunities opened up by globalisation. Outsourcing took manufacturing capacities to countries where labour costs were lower, a key factor in this labour-intensive industry.

But the innovative spirit that has characterised Pirmasens shoe-making since the days of the bored soldiers’ wives is as strong as ever. Nowadays, the focus is on niche products and innovative start-ups, shoe engineering, footwear expertise and research. For enterprising individuals or companies looking to gain a foothold in the footwear industry there is no better location than this south-west corner of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Rhineland-Palatinate has a unique status in shoe engineering, technology and design. Germany’s only engineering degree in leather processing and shoe technology attracts students to Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences (www.uni-kl.de), which also offers a BSc course in orthopaedic shoe technology, a fast-growing field with excellent job prospects.

The German College of Footwear Design and Technology (www.deutsche-schuhfachschule.net) in Pirmasens is Germany’s leading institute for vocational training in technical management and shoe design, with English courses prepare students for a job in an international environment.

The Pirmasens-based International Shoe Competence Center Germany (www.isc-germany.com) and the Test and Research Institute Pirmasens (www.pfi-germany.de) serve the global needs of the footwear industry in the fields of research and development, specialist further education and consulting.

In this region of Rhineland-Palatinate newcomers will find a pool of talented recruits in an environment shaped by ground-breaking ideas and innovative impulses.