About LOWA

Since 1923: Our history

Lorenz Wagner, the son of shoemaker Johann Wagner, founded the LOWA company in the tranquil town of Jetzendorf, north of Munich, in 1923.

He spent days and months developing lasts, models and soles. His work laid the foundation for the company's future success.

However, the company's 100-year history was not only characterised by rosy times. In the 1950s in particular, LOWA had to contend with major challenges, which Sepp and Berti Lederer, Lorenz Wagner's daughter, successfully mastered.

A new era finally began in the early 1990s. It heralded a turning point and made LOWA what it is today: one of the most important outdoor shoe manufacturers in the world.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WERE THREE BROTHERS

Not a fairy tale, but a true story: Lorenz, Hans and Adolf Wagner lived more than a hundred years ago in the Bavarian municipality of Jetzendorf an der Ilm. They learnt the cobbler's trade from their father and went on to write alpine boot history: as the founders of the LOWA, Hanwag and Hochland brands.

OPENING WITH MUSIC

The father of the three Wagner brothers, Johann, was a shoemaker and musician. He played in the first Jetzendorf band, founded by his brother Josef Wagner in 1850. Johann's sons Lorenz, Hans and Adolf were also musical and soon joined in. And so the Wagner band played - lively folk music or solemn church music, depending on the occasion. After his uncle and cousin, Lorenz Wagner eventually took over the direction of the ensemble.

Lorenz later described how he used music to lay the foundations for setting up his cobbler's workshop:

"Back then, it was customary for a country cobbler to also be a musician. I played at weddings and other events, earning myself a tidy sum of money and initially acquiring the most essential machines."

- Lorenz Wagner | LOWA

WITHIN A RADIUS OF 10 KILOMETRES

There was a great need for shoes in the 1920s, as they were the most important means of transport. People in both rural and urban areas primarily travelled on foot. Lorenz's brothers set up as independent shoemakers. Hans Wagner went to Vierkirchen, his brother Adolf to Weichs, both places are about 10 kilometres away from Jetzendorf. The band disbanded and the history of the three shoe brands began.

Today's Hanwag brand was founded in 1921. Hans Wagner supplied shoes for a Munich company and soon produced his own waistband and Haferl shoes. He constantly expanded his business and marketed his shoes under the name Hanwag from 1952. The factory remained in the family for the first 83 years, with the company founder being succeeded by his nephew Josef Wagner, meaning that Hanwag only had two company directors during this time. Since 2004, the company has belonged to Fenix Outdoor AB. The "brother company" is still a friendly rival of LOWA today.

Adolf Wagner, the youngest of the three brothers, married in Weichs in 1923, took over the shoe repair workshop there and developed it into a shoe factory with 30 employees within ten years. His mountain and ski boots were very successful under the abbreviation "A.W.". Like his brothers, he also produced mountain infantry boots during the war. In the post-war period, a new start was made under the brand name Hochland. Daughter Emma and her husband took over the business in 1955, which was known worldwide in the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-1970s, the shoe factory was leased to the company Romika, which produced high-quality hiking boots there. However, the competitive pressure was too great and the factory had to close for good in 1981.

THE "ILMTAL SPORTS SHOE FACTORY"

The parallels to the stories of his brothers cannot be overlooked: Lorenz Wagner, born in 1893, was the eldest son and took over his parents' estate in Jetzendorf in 1922. This included some land and his father Johann's country cobbler's shop. Lorenz had big plans: together with his wife Therese, he wanted to expand the "small farm cobbler's workshop" into a proper "business". So he bought his first machines and founded his own company in 1923, which was not yet called LOWA. He probably ran it simply under his own name at first; in the 1930s, the company appears in documents as "Ilmtaler Sportschuhfabrik". Success followed: in 1925 Lorenz Wagner employed two male workers over the age of 16, by 1930 there were already seven employees - six men and one woman. The premises became too small. The first factory building was built, measuring 15 by 6 metres.

From February 1930, a capable apprentice by the name of Josef Lederer joined the company. He told us later:

"The shoemakers were housed in the attic, and I was also there as an apprentice. Everyone - including those who lived in the village - was catered for in the house. The food was part of the wages. As an apprentice, you had to pay an apprenticeship fee - in return, I was allowed to shine my future wife's shoes."

- Sepp Lederer | LOWA
PLACE HOLDER

Did he realise it at the time? At the end of his apprenticeship, Josef Lederer left LOWA, but returned over 15 years later and married Berti Wagner, the daughter of the company founder.

In the early days of LOWA, the company primarily produced oat shoes made of leather. Soon, however, the factory was also producing "sports shoes", i.e. mountain and ski boots. These were also made of leather. In the "golden twenties", alpine sports experienced a boom, which benefited shoemakers such as Lorenz, Hans and Adolf Wagner.

1923

Lorenz Wagner founds his own shoemaking workshop in 1923.

He purchases his first machines and expands the business. More and more employees work on Haferl shoes as well as mountain and ski boots.
1930

Space becomes tight and so the first small factory building is constructed.

In February of this year, Josef Lederer, later to become his son-in-law and successor, starts as an apprentice in the shoe factory.
1933

In January 1933, the National Socialists come to power. This marks the beginning of the persecution of political opponents and the harmonisation of the entire "national community".

Lorenz Wagner joins the NSDAP. In April 1933, he is elected mayor of Jetzendorf. He employs 17 men and women in his "Ilmtal sports shoe factory".
1934

The shoe and leather industry throughout Germany is centrally controlled and rationed from 1934.

In the National Socialist economic policy, which focuses on self-sufficiency and rearmament, shoe manufacturers such as Lorenz Wagner (and his brothers) are given preferential treatment because they produce the necessary work shoes and boots.
1936

The factory grows and the machines are powered by a 13 hp electric motor.

In February 1936, the fourth Winter Olympics are held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. LOWA develops leather ski boots named after the Kreuzeck mountain near Garmisch. Just like the Berlin Summer Games in the same year, the Winter Games are a huge propaganda success for the Nazi regime.
1937

Lorenz Wagner resigns as mayor. In an official letter to the Pfaffenhofen district office, he cites his financial situation as the reason for his resignation.

After 1945, Lorenz Wagner explains in his denazification proceedings that another reason was a "dispute with the then district leader Limmer".
1939

The Second World War begins in September 1939.

From now on, the shoe factory produces mountain and ski boots for the Wehrmacht's mountain troops.
1942

Lorenz Wagner is once again appointed mayor of Jetzendorf.
He remains in office until 1945.
1944

The Nazi leadership deploys forced labourers in all areas of the economy. In the final years of the war, the shoe factory also calls on foreign labourers and is assigned up to 30 French prisoners of war from the main camp in Moosburg.
1946

In the denazification proceedings of the US military government, he stated that he had joined the NSDAP "in order to maintain a business [...]" He had allowed himself to be appointed mayor "at the urging of many".

These subsequent apologies should be read with caution, as they are intended to absolve Lorenz Wagner of responsibility and guilt. However, the municipality's minute books from this period make no reference to the mayor's National Socialist activities. Lorenz Wagner is categorised in group 4 of the "fellow travellers" (1. main culprits, 2. incriminated, 3. less incriminated, 4. fellow travellers, 5. exonerated) and sentenced to a fine of 1,000 RM.
1948

In the period after the war, the company and its product range are expanded.

The new name of the shoe factory is also created during this time: LO(renz) WA(gner).

THE NEXT GENERATION

SEPP AND BERTI LEDERER

When the former apprentice Josef Lederer, known as Sepp, returned to LOWA, happiness and misfortune were very close together. The company was in trouble and the company boss and founder Lorenz Wagner died. At the same time, Sepp fell in love with Berta Wagner and married her. Together with Berta's brother, Josef Wagner, the new generation of managers managed to save the company and developed it into an internationally recognised, successful brand.

A NEW NAME AND NEW SHOES

After the end of the Second World War, Lorenz Wagner had to reorganise his shoe factory. The buildings and machinery were still standing, but shoes for mountain troops were no longer needed and the French prisoners of war, who made up a large proportion of the workers at LOWA, returned home.

Even though the demand for shoes was great in the post-war period, so was the competition. Not only the Wagner brothers in Weichs and Vierkirchen, but also other shoe factories in and around Munich were asserting themselves on the market.

The "Ilmtaler Sportschuhfabrik" had to reinvent itself, employ workers and win over new customers. Lorenz Wagner created the LOWA brand, formed from the first letters of his name. The first collections of the post-war period were very broad-based. LOWA still produced Haferlsschuhe, mountain boots and ski boots, but also sandals, lightweight low shoes, après-ski boots and fur slippers.

Berti Lederer
Sepp Lederer

THE COMPANY IN DIFFICULTIES

At the beginning of the 1950s, there was little material and little money available. The Korean crisis exacerbated this development. Leather, an important raw material for LOWA, became scarce and was traded at very high prices. Lorenz Wagner bought leather on a large scale.

Sepp Lederer later explained Wagner's purchase decision in an interview: "Some capable businessmen took advantage of this and said: Buy, buy! - it's only going to get more expensive! Six months later, the Korean spook was over - and leather prices plummeted. that was 1950/51, and one day we couldn't get any more money from the savings bank to pay our wages." - LOWA was on the verge of bankruptcy.

A plan was needed to save the shoe factory and fortunately Lorenz Wagner already had the right man and the right woman in the company. His daughter Berta (Berti) Wagner was now the commercial director of LOWA. In addition, Sepp Lederer, who had only recently returned from being a prisoner of war, was working as operations manager in the shoe factory. Sepp Lederer Lederer had actually planned to stay for "just one year". But in the financial crisis, he no longer wanted or was able to leave. Together with his future wife, he took over responsibility for the company. The creditors advised LOWA to make a settlement, but Sepp and Berti managed to negotiate a moratorium with them, i.e. a deferral of the repayments.

It was an exhausting time. Berti Lederer later described how insolvency threatened anew every month and had to be averted. But they managed to overcome the challenges together - and brought Berti and Sepp closer together. They married on 5 July 1952, and Lorenz Wagner experienced these dramatic events in the last year of his life. He died in 1953 at the age of 60. LOWA was not yet out of the woods.

Berti Lederer recalled decades later: "When my father died in April 1953, I was heavily pregnant. Sepp and I walked behind the coffin towards the cemetery and we were overwhelmed by the sympathy we received from Jetzendorf. Sepp spontaneously squeezed my arm and said, looking at all the LOWA employees who had turned up: 'We can't possibly close the business, that would be the last thing Lorenz would have wanted. We'll carry on!"

ON THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINS IN THE WORLD

The crisis was finally overcome in the mid-1950s. The son of the company founder, Josef Wagner, now also worked at LOWA, he was responsible for production and shared the management with Sepp Lederer. Berti Lederer was still in charge of sales. Together, the second generation of the family business founded a limited partnership, LOWA KG, in 1957. Sepp Lederer and Josef Wagner acted as personally liable partners, Berti Lederer as a limited partner. LOWA stopped producing street shoes and oatmeal boots and focussed on the production of high-quality mountain and ski boots. The first marketing campaigns were organised, brochures were printed and trade fairs attended. During this time, LOWA also became known for equipping many high mountain expeditions. International mountaineers visited the shoe manufacturer in Jetzendorf, Bavaria, for advice and to order customised shoes. The golden age of "mountain boots and ski boots with a difference" began.

1952

LOWA falls into crisis.

The Korean conflict causes the availability and prices of leather to fluctuate wildly and the company speculates. The former apprentice Josef Lederer, now plant manager, and Lorenz's daughter Berta as sales manager save the company. Josef and Berta marry on 5 July.
1953

The company founder Lorenz Wagner dies and the next generation takes over the management of the company.

The Lederer couple succeed in stabilising the economic situation of the shoe factory.
1957

LOWA KG is founded on 13 February 1957.

The personally liable partners are Josef Lederer and his brother-in-law Josef Wagner, the limited partner is Berta Lederer. The new marketing strategy: LOWA focusses on cooperation with experienced mountaineers and equips expeditions on the highest mountains in the world in the following years.
1962

The "Ski- und Berschuhe mit Pfiff" are successful and LOWA continues to grow.

The company now employs 95 people and has a turnover of around DM 2.5 million.
1970

Josef Lederer boldly invests in the future of LOWA.

After purchasing a Vulka system in the 1960s, he now acquires a polyurethane injection moulding machine for ski boots, making him one of the pioneers in the industry. The LOWA TOTAL is launched on the market.
1972

The development team at LOWA achieves another major success.

With the help of an inflatable air cushion, the inner boot of the ski boot can be precisely customised to the foot. The new boot is given the name LOWA AIR and becomes a bestseller for many years.
1977

LOWA expands its distribution beyond Germany.

Fritz Müller from Interlaken signs an agreement on 25 October 1977, which is still in force today. LOWA Switzerland is still a subsidiary today.
1982

The year 1982 marks a milestone in the field of mountaineering boots.

With the TREKKER model, LOWA ventures into new territory. With success! From then on, trekking boots became an integral part of the collection.
1983

LOWA employs over 100 people at sites in Altmühlmünster, Altmannstein, Pirmasens and Jetzendorf.

20 per cent of the shoes are exported.
1988

The next generational change is about to take place at LOWA.

Following the retirement of Josef Wagner in 1979, Josef Lederer steps down from LOWA and hands over the reins to his son Stefan Lederer. He continues to develop the trekking shoe and lightweight hiking boot range.

NEW WAYS

TECNICA BUYS LOWA

The years 1992/1993 marked a turning point at LOWA. Josef Lederer sold the company to the Italian company Tecnica and LOWA gained a new managing director and partner in Werner Riethmann.

LIGHT AND HEAVY

Sepp Lederer retired from the management in 1988. His son Stefan took over the management of LOWA together with Berti. He continued to develop the new generation of lightweight mountaineering boots that had been conquering the market for several years. Trekking shoes had emerged as an outdoor competitor to trainers.

In contrast, the winter part of the seasonal business, ski boots, became increasingly heavier and more technical. The new models were not as well received by customers as expected. In addition, the weather spoilt the ski boot business: several particularly mild winters with little snow followed. February 1990 even recorded a record average temperature of 5.74 degrees - the highest value in Germany since 1881.

Model TREKKER
LOWA ski boot

UMBRUCH

The third Wagner/Lederer generation was not as successful as its predecessors. Due to a series of wrong business decisions and market changes, LOWA got into financial difficulties. Once again, the banks decided the fate of the company. It was during this time that Werner Riethmann joined LOWA. Riethmann had previously been managing director at Raichle, a Swiss shoe manufacturer. He knew LOWA and the Lederer family. in 1992, the advisory board of Deutsche Bank appointed him as managing director.

The stories about this time of upheaval and change seem adventurous at times. There were mountains of unused material in barns and garages, Werner Riethmann recounts in his interview with contemporary witnesses. For the entire first year, he only "worked from the reserves" and produced shoes with the material. When his one-year contract expired, the sale of LOWA was initiated.

THE ZANATTA FAMILY AND TECNICA

There were several interested parties in the shoe factory, but eventually the Italian company Tecnica prevailed as the buyer. The family company had been founded at a similar time and with similar products to LOWA. It had developed from a small Italian cobbler's workshop in 1930. The current senior member of the family, Giancarlo Zanatta, had already worked in his father's workshop as a teenager. Together with his brother, he then expanded the business into a larger shoe factory for mountain boots, ski boots and après-ski boots. The company's international breakthrough came in 1970 with the invention of Moon Boots. These après-ski boots, reminiscent of the heavy shoes worn by the first men on the moon, are now classics of industrial design and can be found in museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

With the purchase of a majority shareholding in LOWA, Tecnica secured an important position within the alpine boot market. Werner Riethmann, who returned to LOWA soon after the sale and thus started a second time at LOWA, so to speak, has also been involved in LOWA since this time. The co-operation between Tecnica and LOWA was under a good star right from the start. One long-standing employee has particularly fond memories of the first joint celebration, the 70th anniversary of LOWA. "That was a great party. The Jetzendorfer Haus- und Hinterhofmusikanten played, which our Italian business partners particularly enjoyed. There were polonaises throughout the hall, old and young, Jetzendorfers and Italians, all together. There was a really good atmosphere."

MORE LOWA, FEWER SKI BOOTS

The employees at LOWA and the municipality of Jetzendorf were still unsure after the sale. What will happen in the long term? Will LOWA stay in Jetzendorf? Will Tecnica change the product range?

The new management team at LOWA soon realised: LOWA will remain an alpine boot factory and LOWA will remain in Jetzendorf. However, the LOWA ski boot division moved to Tecnica in Italy. As the development and production of ski boots is complex, it did not seem to make much sense to operate two ski boot sites in one company group. LOWA ski boots were still manufactured at Tecnica for over ten years. production of the ski boots was discontinued in 2008.

LOWA mountain boots made great strides on the road to success. The motto was: LOWA "... simply more". Restructuring, investments, extensions and technical developments took the company to the next peak: the sale of 1 million pairs of boots in 2000.

"Closing ranks with Italy is not just a financial matter, but is happening at all levels."

- Werner Riethmann | former LOWA Managing Director

A NEW ERA: 100 YEARS OF LOWA

1992

LOWA's economic situation is difficult. Werner Riethmann takes over the management.

The Lederer family decides to sell their shares in the company.
1993

The Italian Tecnica Group buys LOWA.

Today, the group also includes the Nordica, Rollerblade, Blizzard and Moon Boot brands. Processes at LOWA are optimised and the ski boot business is relocated to Italy. Jetzendorf remains the location for LOWA mountain and trekking boots.
1997

Werner Riethmann and his development team achieve a major breakthrough with the RENEGADE model.

The shoe becomes a bestseller. The RENEGADE is a sales hit and remains a classic to this day.
2000

LOWA sells one million pairs of shoes for the first time.

The company grows and builds new production facilities. From the original 15 square metres where Lorenz Wagner once started out, a modern factory with 7,000 square metres of space has been created.
2003

LOWA opens the first Schöffel-LOWA store in Frankfurt together with Schöffel Sportbekleidung GmbH.

The joint venture utilises synergies and the products of the two companies complement each other perfectly. In the following years, over 36 more stores are opened in Germany, Austria and Italy.
2010

LOWA reaches the next milestone. Two million pairs of shoes!

LOWA sells its products in numerous countries around the world - in Europe, the USA, China and Australia.
2015

"Made in Europe":

LOWA produces shoes throughout Europe with production partners in Slovakia, Bosnia, Italy and Croatia.
2019

Alexander Nicolai becomes Managing Director and manages LOWA together with Werner Riethmann.

In the same year, LOWA buys out its long-standing production partner Riko Sport. The development site in Italy is now known as LOWA R&D and production in Slovakia as LOWA Production. Over 2,000 people are employed at LOWA.
2023

lOWA celebrates its 100th birthday in 2023 and produces over 3 million pairs of shoes.

The brand is one of the most important producers of high-quality outdoor shoes in the world and exports its products to 80 countries.

INTO THE WORLD: 80 COUNTRIES

Today, LOWA shoes are exported to 80 countries around the world. Major international mountaineers have been wearing LOWA shoes since the 1950s at the latest. International business began in the 1970s with Switzerland, Austria, the USA and Japan. Each country has its own LOWA history - and its own LOWA collection.