Over 70 years ago, Xaver Haimerl added the X of his first name to the first three letters of his surname and founded Haimerl Xaver Schuhfertigung, or HAIX for short. That was in 1948. In the 1950s, the company in the Bavarian town of Mainburg quickly made a good name for itself with hiking and working boots, which were sold under various brand names.

Today, HAIX is still family-owned and still manufactures shoes in Mainburg. Since then, however, the company has risen from a local workshop to a global player.

Success with firefighter boots

Ewald Haimerl, son of Xaver and long-time managing director of HAIX, was not only a master shoemaker in his father’s business; he was also deputy commander of the Mainburg fire brigade. But the rubber boots that firefighters wore at that time were a nuisance for him and his colleagues: clunky, uncomfortable and suffering from decades of zero innovation. Something had to be done!

So Ewald Haimerl took up the cause and developed completely new, functional leather firefighting boots in the 1990s. The idea caught fire – not just among the firefighters in Mainburg, but also far beyond the region. HAIX firefighting boots received recognition and praise. And this gave HAIX the go-ahead to continue to develop innovative functional footwear for the rescue services and police.

Off to the future!

Today, the HAIX WORLD flagship store’s museum area looks at where it all began for the traditional company. Here are the shoemaker’s tools that Xaver Haimerl worked with. There’s also an illuminated display tracing the development of HAIX firefighting boots – from Ewald Haimerl’s prototype to the safest firefighting boot in the world, the FIRE HERO 3.0.

The new generation of shoes was also introduced by a new generation of HAIXers. Because in 2019 Tanja and Michael Haimerl became the third generation to run the family business. Together with the employees, they are leading HAIX into the future. In the best family tradition, they focus on innovation and quality, 100% made in Europe.