Spring 1915. Just 15 years old, Carl Birkenstock, who has just finished school, dreams of becoming an architect. But his destiny is all mapped out. The Birkenstocks have been shoemakers from father to son since the 18th century. The eldest of the siblings therefore joined the workshop of his father, Konrad, in Friedberg, about thirty kilometers north of Frankfurt, where Carl, his two brothers and his sister moved just after the start of the First World War .
A return to basics for the family, which returns to the hometown of Elisabeth, the mother. Konrad specializes in metal-free orthopedic insoles, which are much more flexible and comfortable. A small revolution, which he calls the “fussbett” or “foot bed”.