Otto Bock

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German prosthetics company

For the American jurist, see Otto Bock (judge) . For the Danish athlete, see Otto Bock (athlete) .

Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA, formerly Otto Bock, is an international company based in Duderstadt Germany, that operates in the field of orthopedic technology. It is considered the world market leader in the field of prosthetics and one of the leading suppliers in orthotics , wheelchairs and exoskeletons .

Näder Holding GmbH & Co. KG is entirely owned by the Näder family, direct descendants of the company's founder, Otto Bock. Näder Holding controls 80% of the shares in Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA. The remaining 20% of the shares were previously held by the Swedish financial investor EQT. However, in March 2024, it was announced that Näder Holding had repurchased these shares from EQT for EUR 1.1 billion.

In 2024, the Ottobock Group as a whole generated sales of €1,6 billion and had 9,100 employees in 45 countries.

In August 2025, several international newspapers reported on an upcoming initial public offering in fall 2025

which got confirmed to happen in October by Ottobock. The targeted market value is EUR 4.2 billion. Several media shared critical perspectives due to the high borrowings, extensive business with Russia

and the National Socialist past.

History

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Foundation of the company from 1919

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The company was founded on January 13, 1919 under the appellation Orthopädische Industrie GmbH, headquartered in Berlin . Initiated by a group surrounding a manufacturer named Otto Bock, who hailed from Krefeld , its objective was to supply prostheses and orthopedic products to the many thousands of war invalids of World War I . Bock acted as production manager during this phase.

In 1920, production operations were relocated to Königsee in Thuringia , where at times, a workforce of up to 600 people was employed. Faced with high demand that could not be met with traditional handicraft or artisanal methods, Otto Bock began the mass-production of prosthetic components, thus laying the foundation for the orthopedic industry. Bock moved into the management of the company in 1924 and finally took over as sole managing director in 1927. With the evolution of the industry, new materials began to be used in production, notably aluminum , which found early application in prosthetic construction during the 1930s.

National Socialist era 1933-1945

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In May 1933, Bock joined the NSDAP . During the 1930s he became a supporting member of the SS. He paid a monthly contribution of six Reichmarks, according to his own account, until 1938. At the end of 1933, Bock had Orthopädische Industrie GmbH liquidated and paid out the remaining shareholders. The company was renamed Orthopedic Industry Otto Bock in Königsee .

Max Näder , after completing his secondary education in 1935, commenced his professional journey by undertaking training as an orthopedic mechanic and industrial clerk at Otto Bock. During his later studies in Berlin, he became part of the National Socialist German Student Association (NSDStB). During the African campaign, Näder was awarded the Iron Cross II Class. In 1943, while on leave, he married Maria Bock, the daughter of Otto Bock.

During the tumult of World War II , the company resorted to the utilisation of forced laborers to sustain its operational endeavors. A company chronicle quotes former employees as saying that from 1942 onwards, around 100 Russian women aged between 18 and 22 were employed in the bandage, sewing and timber departments. Letters from Marie Bock also suggest that the entrepreneurial family used forced labourers not only in the company but also in the private household.

1946-1989

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After World War II, when all the family's private assets as well as the factory in Königsee had been confiscated by the Soviet occupiers, the company settled in Duderstadt in southern Lower Saxony in 1946. In 1950, plastics were introduced into production for the first time. The invention of a braking knee joint with high stability, called the Jüpa knee, brought the economic breakthrough after 1949. Together with a newly developed balance device and two other apparatuses for prosthetic alignment, it was also in demand on the American market. In 1955, Ottobock exported the first 500 Jüpa knees to the U.S.

The establishment of an American branch in Minneapolis in 1958 marked the beginning of the company's international sales structure.

In 1965, Max Näder introduced myoelectric arm prostheses to the market. For the first time, light and fragile as well as heavy objects could be grasped with them. In myoelectrics, weak electrical voltages control the prosthesis.

Another development was a fitting solution for modular leg prostheses. The pyramid adapter, patented in 1969, connects the prosthetic foot, knee joint and stem and allows static corrections as well as the exchange of the modules. It remains an integrative element of innovative joints to this day.

1990 until today

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Science Center Medizintechnik in Berlin

After reunification , Hans Georg Näder took over the management of the family company from his father Max Näder, the son-in-law of company founder Otto Bock, in 1990. In the same year, the company was able to reacquire the old Ottobock site in Königsee. Today, manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, rehabilitation products for children and seat shell bases are produced at the former headquarters .

After a five-year development period, the world's first microprocessor -controlled knee joint, the C-

…