The family company thies was founded in 1856 by hat maker Wilhelm Ferdinand Fischer in Pegau in Saxony. At that time still producing felt, “Ferdinand Fischer”, as the company was called when it was founded, developed into one of the first industrial shoe manufacturers in Germany with over 1000 employees. Then as now, quality and innovation are the values that thies consistently relies on in 1856.
Shoe tradition meets innovation – brief thies 1856 history:
- In 1945 the company was lost to the East German government without any remuneration
- 1947 new beginning of Ingeborg Thies born Fischer
- 1949 Founding of “Ferdinand Fischer KG” in Schneverdingen by Horst Fischer
- 1949 Foundation of “Thies-Fischer KG”
- 1984 Founding of “K&T Handels- und Unternehmensberatung GmbH” in the fifth generation after Ferdinand Fischer by Ulrike Kotjan and Ursula and Matthias Thies
- 2006 A reason to celebrate: 150 years of development and delivery of shoes, materials and accessories by the Thies-Fischer family
Today’s thies ® brand can be traced back to 1947. 600 employees in three factories made the innovative quality shoes for which the company still stands today. Speaking of today: Today the family business is controlled by the sixth generation from Munich with a handful of employees. Production takes place in Italy and Spain.
Sustainable wellbeing since 1856. Designed in Munich. Produced sustainably and fairly in small companies in Spain.
The secret of the thies comfort? Technical innovations such as memory foam or elastic inserts and expertise that has been passed on and further developed over generations. Shoe experts are at work here.
The core competence? Footwear for the home.
The collection includes the lines comfort (comfortable shoes and sneakers), home (slippers) and thies 1856 (progressive home and fashion shoes and sneakers) for women and men. What they all have in common: Highest quality standards and 100 percent “Made with passion”. thies comfort and thies home for women and men are the central themes. The core business is supplemented by other lines, such as the eco line. GOTS ® certified organic cotton, felts made from recycled post consumer PET, real cork footbeds, vegetable tanned leather and German olive leather ® are used here.
A constant topic at thies? Innovative materials.
Also in the portfolio: The Made in Germany collection with slippers made from sustainable felt made from recycled PET bottles and with a removable footbed. Innovative materials are a constant topic at thies. As with the thies 1856 collection, which stands for the unquenchable pioneering spirit of the Munich makers. This statement collection combines “german engiering” with zeitgeist. That’s thies.
We use nature and an environmentally friendly lift style as inspiration for the collections.
And what’s up with the squirrel logo?
It stole a butter cake and heather sand on a small wooden bench in front of Walter Thies own factory building in Lüneburg Heath in 1953. The following day Walter Thies brought a nut cake for the squirrel. From then on, they were best friends. The tree of the squirrel has always been preserved and cared for, despite the strong growth of the factory. Today the great-great-grandchildren of the squirrel still watch the delivery of the new shoe collections every six months.
Good to know: Wilhelm Ferdinand Fischer proved his drive for innovation not least with the patent for the felt press machine from 1885. This is still clearly visible in the sixth generation. Shoe designer and producer Sebastian Thies has lived this spirit with nat-2 footwear since 2007. What about sneakers made of glass, straw, hay, milk, moss & Co.? Click here for the portrait of nat-2 >>>
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