Master shoemaker Hugo Seidich learned his trade at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1927, the family left the Ruhr region and moved to the Netherlands, to the small town Waubach near the Dutch city of Heerlen. In 1928, Hugo Seidich opened his own Workshop near the main railway station in Heerlen. Hugo Michael Seidich was born in the same year and helped out in his father’s workshop from an early age. The Second World War forced the family to give up the workshop and leave the Netherlands. After the war, Hugo Seidich returned to the Ruhr region and opened a workshop in the town Gelsenkirchen.

After the war, his son Hugo Michael Seidich trained as a shoemaker at the Thiele shoe factory in Erfurt, where he received intensive training in upper construction. At the age of 21, he opened his own upper making workshop on Milchinselstrasse in Erfurt in 1948. Due to the division of Germany, he also returned to the Ruhr area and helped his father in the workshop again. However, in order to make ends meet financially, he also worked as a miner at the Consolidation colliery in Gelsenkirchen. There he noticed the very poor quality of the work boots, for which there were no regulations at that time as there are today. He recognised an opportunity to apply his knowledge as a shoemaker and uppermaker. He developed a concept for the industrial manufacture of safety shoes, specifically for mining and the steel industry. Boots that effectively protected the wearer and made it easier to walk on sloping and ascending underground routes.

While Hugo Seidich Senior continued to manufacture high-quality uppers in Gelsenkirchen, his son, with the support of Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG (the then owner of the Gelsenkirchen Consolidation Colliery), opened the “Glückauf Schuhfabrik” shoe factory in Wanne-Eickel in 1952. Around one million pairs of safety shoes for the mining and steel industries were produced until June 1974. Then the decline of the coal industry forced the Glückauf shoe factory to close.

A few years later, Hugo Michael Seidich and his son Hartmut began setting up a new upper making workshop at its current location. The Herne city council supported the establishment of the workshop in a municipal property, enabling Hartmut Seidich to continue the family tradition.

He learned the craft of shoemaking from his father, completed an apprenticeship as an orthopaedic shoemaker and, after passing his master shoemaker’s examination, opened the current workshop on 26 October 1987 – just 1,500 metres from the site of the former “Glückauf Schuhfabrik” shoe factory.

Hugo Michael Seidich remained active at his son’s side for many years and was also able to teach his grandson Dustin a great deal. On 27 April 2012, after a very fulfilling life, Hugo Michael Seidich passed away at the age of 83. He was delighted to see that the fourth generation would continue the business. Both Dustin Seidich and brother-in-law Jan Droste learned the craft. Both are now journeymen shoemakers and skilled uppermakers.

He was proud that, despite the many setbacks, the family still manufactures uppers. Whether for former miners who sacrificed their health in the mines of the Ruhr region or for quality-conscious shoe lovers at home and abroad who are fortunate enough to have perfect footwear made to measure.

The majority of the work is for orthopaedic footwear, but uppers from Herne can also be found on the feet of members of aristocratic families, famous Hollywood stars and discerning private customers. They are also worn by children who have suffered serious injuries to their feet in war zones or who were born with severe physical disabilities in Africa and can only participate fully in life again with orthopaedic shoes.

Our family’s work has been featured in the special exhibition “Schuhtick – von heißen Sohlen und kalten Füßen” (Shoe Mania – Hot Soles and Cold Feet) at the State Museums.

From 2004 to 2024, Hartmut Seidich taught master orthopaedic shoemaking students as a lecturer in boot construction at the Academy of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts. His wife Tanja and son Dustin supported him in this for many years.

During this time, Hartmut and Dustin Seidich wrote textbooks on uppermaking, which are now valued in over thirty countries, and also passed on their expertise in workshops.

In 2023, the Central Association of German Shoemakers awarded Hartmut Seidich the “Medal of Merit for Outstanding Services to the Shoemaking Trade”, the highest award the association can bestow.

Today, the Herne workshop is one of the few where the entire manufacturing process is still carried out purely by hand, and it is in contact with fellow specialists worldwide.