An Appointment with Dr Martens

This is the story of Dr Martens, but not the one you know. It is a tale that predates punk, the skinhead movement, and all the other miscellaneous groups that are now bound to the history of DMs. It is, instead, the story of a dedicated German army doctor and his engineer friend, who literally built a modern legend from the ruins of a country ravaged by war. Through their invention, ingenuity, and passion alone they designed a shoe with the perfect blend of form and function which guarantees universal appeal. Their invention was eventually worn around the world, by postmen on their rounds and hardcore punks in the pit. This is the untold story of Dr Klaus Märtens, the name behind the legend.

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If you were asked to put together a list of influential Dr Martens wearers, who would you include? Your list would depend upon the decade your adolescence fell in, what music you listened to, and who your heroes were. Nevertheless, amongst the list of iconic musicians, artists, and actors who ensured that Dr Martens became the footwear brand of choice for any outsider, rebel, or counter cultural crusader worth his or her salt, one name that you probably won't find is Klaus Märtens. It is the often untold tale of the eponymous creator of Dr Martens that we will tell here.

The Dr Martens brand we know today was anglicised back in the 1960s (more on this later), but the feet of this modern icon are firmly planted in the disturbed soil of post-war Germany; a land flattened by seven years of war, but also a levelled construction site for willing individuals with the vision and drive to build something from those ruins.

Klaus Märtens, a German army doctor during World War Two, was such an individual. During the war, Klaus suffered a bad skiing accident while on leave in the Bavarian Alps. Although undoubtedly painful at the time, it was while Klaus lay recovering in the confines of a hospital bed that his mind - part in invention, part in fantasy – dreamt up the idea of a shoe with an air-filled sole, as an alternative to the hard leather army boots that he would inevitably wear again once his foot had healed. In this instance, comfort and not necessity was the mother of invention, and the idea was so strong and resilient that it survived the war with Klaus and entered the post-war era.

As the war ended, Klaus set about making a new life for himself, and his new invention would become the focal point of that life. Klaus was in search of a business partner, and a chance meeting with an old friend and former Munich University colleague, Dr. Herbert Funck, blossomed into a lifelong partnership. Funck was a mechanical engineer and complemented Märtens' enthusiasm with some technical knowhow. Together, they bought up tonnes of rubber from abandoned Luftwaffe airfields, at rock bottom prices, and began to literally build a new life from the relics of wartime Germany, melting down the aviation rubber and re-forming it as new air-filled shoe soles.

In 1947, the duo began hand making their shoes in the town of Seeshaupt and early versions, which were a mix between a brothel creeper and a boot, sold well. In this picture, the team celebrate their thousandth unit made. But soon, increased demand meant that their cottage industry outgrew the confines of the cottage, and in 1952 a factory was opened in Munich.

"Our timing was perfect. The whole of Europe had just spent five years in army boots and everyone knew how uncomfortable they were. The shoe was the right answer at the right time." - Klaus Märtens.

By 1959, their business within Germany had grown to the extent that they decided to advertise in international trade magazines. It was here that they attracted the attention of The Griggs Company.

The Griggs Company, a family run business that was now in its third generation, had a reputation for producing hardwearing and solidly built boots since 1901. Coincidentally, they had supplied boots to the British army for both World Wars, and English Tommies wearing Griggs & Co boots almost certainly faced Klaus in the theatre of war.

In this brave new world, however, it was fitting that an Anglo-German partnership between German inventors and English manufacturers would create one of the most iconic pieces of footwear ever produced.

Bill Griggs, seen here welcoming Klaus to the factory with his brothers Ray and Colin, acquired the exclusive licence to produce the air-cushioned sole, and set about deigning a boot to sit on top of the revolutionary design. They added a strong leather upper with a distinctive bulbous shape, plus the yellow welt stitching that would become a signature of the brand.

Griggs & Co anglicised the name to Dr Martens and Bill Griggs coined the brand name AirWair to match it. The accompanying slogan, "with bouncing soles" was also an invention of Bill's and the script used for the logo was based on his handwriting, taken directly from sketches that Bill doodled when thinking of a name.

The first pair of Dr Martens rolled out of Griggs & Co's Cobbs Lane factory, where Dr Martens are still produced to this day, on April 1st, 1960. From that day forward their eight holed boot was named the 1460 after its date of its birth. The boot was a child of a new post-war Europe, created by a seemingly unlikely alliance between old enemies. Yet the combination of German technology and functionality, mixed with English craftsmanship and style, proved to be a runaway hit.

The rest of the Dr Martens story is the one you know: it's the story of rugged, functional footwear that was worn and loved by housewives and anarchists alike. A modern icon, the Dr Marten boot represents the post-war cultural awakening of Britain in the same way that the Levi's 501 does for America. It may be a trite sentiment, but all the optimism that came after could not have happened without the passion and drive of one man determined to salvage something from the ruins of his country. The Dr's footwear was just what Europe ordered, and his prescription showed that Europe could cure itself of any post-war malady.

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