Tuttlingen - the world's centre of medical technology!

In the year 797, Tuttlingen was mentioned in writing for the first time in the Latin form "tuttiliningas" in a certificate of the monastery of St. Gallen.

Duke Eberhard Ludwig von Württemberg had the Ludwigstal smeltery built in the years 1694-1696 and created the precondition for the economic development of Tuttlingen. The "Schwäbische Hüttenwerke SHW" (Swabian Smeltery) in Tuttlingen has been producing for over 300 years and have meanwhile specialized in the manufacture of brake disks for automobiles. If you were to buy a Porsche, Audi or Lamborghini today, you would brake with disks from Tuttlingen.

The craftsman-dominated town of shoe makers and cutlers developed into an industrial site in the last quarter of the 19th century, which first focused on shoe manufacturing, and then later on the manufacturing of medical instruments. When Gottfried Jetter began fabricating surgical instruments in 1867, he had no idea that he was laying the cornerstone for his hometown to become the "World's Center of Medical Technology". In 1869, the first train rolled into the Tuttlingen train station: The connection to the Württemberg railway network and the development of the water and power supply (1896) were other important steps for the economic development of Tuttlingen.

Today, the "World's Center of Medical Technology" has 140 years of tradition and is among the "global players" with regard to innovations, trends and further developments in medical technology. Tuttlingen has a unique cluster formation worldwide in the area of medical technology. Well-known Tuttlingen companies are, for example, Aesculap AG & Co. KG, the worldwide leading manufacturer of surgical instruments, Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG, worldwide leading manufacturer in the endoscope area, Henke-Sass Wolf GmbH, Berchtold GmbH & Co. or Gebr. Martin GmbH & Co. KG – just to name a few.

With a population of only 35 thousand, Tuttlingen today has around 400 factories which are directly involved in the manufacture of surgical and medical technology products, in addition to other sectors, such as mechanical engineering and the electric industry. About 50% of the world's surgical instruments are manufactured in this city and the vicinity. The chances of the Tuttlingen companies to have continued success on the national and international markets lie - as they always have - in their high quality standard and in the constant development of new, technologically high-quality products and production methods.