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In 1919, Otto Bock founded Orthopädische Industrie GmbH – a bona-fide startup in today’s terms – in the Kreuzberg neighbourhood of Berlin. By introducing the fabrication of components for prostheses, the company succeeded in quickly and reliably treating the numerous victims who had returned from World War I.
Due to political unrest in Berlin, Otto Bock relocated the young company to his hometown, Königsee in Thuringia, the same year it was founded. Over the next 30 years or so, the company workforce grew to more than 600 employees. Documents from the Federal Archives in Berlin and the Thuringia State Archives in Weimar, which the manager magazine has accessed, suggest that from 1942 onwards during the Nazi regime, about 100 Russian women aged 18 to 22 were employed as forced labour in the bandages, sewing and wood departments.
German separation: both an end and a beginning
During the period of Soviet occupation, the family decided to establish another location as close as possible to Königsee but in the neighbouring British zone for strategic reasons. The aim was to ensure ongoing deliveries to customers from this location by trading materials for finished products. Dr Max Näder was the founder of what was the “branch” at the time and is now the company headquarters. Son-in-law to Otto Bock, Dr Näder and his wife Maria Näder started in 1947 with practically nothing and built up the location in Duderstadt.
The Königsee location is expropriated by the Russians
After what was probably the most severe misfortune in the company’s history, the expropriation of the Königsee site without compensation, the family also had to rebuild production in Duderstadt from the ground up together with a group of dedicated employees.
During the Cold War, the family took first steps towards internationalising the company. They secured the company’s future by establishing multiple locations around the globe. In 1958 Dr Max Näder founded the first Ottobock foreign subsidiary in Minneapolis in the US.
Following a somewhat difficult start, the Jüpa knee which featured a brake mecha-nism and offered a high level of stance stability brought a business breakthrough in 1949. This product, together with an innovative balance device and two additional prosthetic alignment apparatuses, were in high demand on the American market. Max Näder exported the first 500 units of the Jüpa knee to the US in 1955.
Max Näder introduced myoelectric arm prostheses to the market in 1965. For the first time, people could grasp light and fragile objects as well as heavy items. Myoelectrics make it possible for weak electric voltages to control the prosthesis. Every contraction of the residual limb produces muscle action currents, which are used as control signals for the artificial hand with the help of electrodes.
Dr Max Näder coined the phrase "humanising prostheses" by further expanding the Ottobock component system to include a modular leg prosthesis. The pyramid patented in 1969 joins the prosthetic foot, knee joint and socket, making it possible to carry out static corrections and exchange the modules. It remains an integrative element for inno-vative joints to this day.
A turning point in the company's history
The fall of the Berlin Wall was another turning point in Ottobock’s history. This enabled the company to repurchase its production location in Königsee, where cutting-edge wheelchairs are now produced. The group’s international growth also continued around the globe.
In 1990, Dr Max Näder handed over management to his son Professor Hans Georg Näder. The entrepreneur took a dynamic approach to expanding the global network, driving research and development as well as marketing and sales. He was appointed Honorary Professor of the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences in Göttingen in 2005.
