Dr Martens: 4 pairs of boots, 4 stories
20-1-2026
Translation: machine translated
As if they were old and worn out. Worn Dr Martens are a piece of nostalgia - and tell of life.
Dr Martens: They're not just a pair of boots. No, they are life companions. Companions in happy and sad times. Sure, the beginning is often difficult. You have to break them in and that hurts. But then, they're yours! Perfectly adapted to your feet. The Docs experience many stories together with you. You can read some of them here, because there are also fans in the Galaxus editorial team.
Florian: On socks through Budapest
My ten-year-old Chelsea boots look like Ronaldo's football boots at the end of the season: worn out, dirty, potholed. I bought them in Budapest - out of necessity. My right shoe got caught in the teeth of an escalator. So firmly that I had to press the emergency stop and the sole came off when I pulled it out. A dramatic exit. So there I was in the Budapest underground - without shoes.
Source: Florian Bodoky
So off I went. I marched through Budapest in my socks and bought new shoes in the first shop I found. In the Doc Martins store on Kristóf Square. Immediately afterwards, I entered the five-star Corinthia Hotel for a launch event in full festival gear - I had just come from an open air festival. A previous visit to my uncle to change my clothes was no longer possible due to the boot gate. My first official appearance with the Docs: business as punk.
After that, they were dragged through snow, mud, beer puddles and football stadiums for years. The Fulginiti cobbler in Winterthur has already patched them up twice. Now they are experiencing their last winter. When they leave, a chapter ends. One with bad weather, good nights and a lot of grip.
Michelle: Lots of firsts in London
London was my first holiday, which I booked when I was 18. And where else could I get such a selection of Dr Martens shoes if not in the UK's capital? I immediately fell in love with a wine-red pair with flowers printed on the inside. The model: Dr Martens 1914 Triumph Aimilita. To make the flowers visible, you can simply fold the high boots down and tie them. Two styles in one. Perfect.
Source: Etsy
The only problem is that I wore them for the first time that very day in London when we got completely lost near Piccadilly Circus. Without Google Maps at the time, but with big blisters on the back of our feet, we made it back to our flat a few hours later. At least the Docs were well broken in after that and I wore them diligently to festivals and in rainy weather from then on. However, as I'm extremely lazy, after a few years I decided to swap them for shoes that I didn't have to painstakingly tie.
When I found the model on Etsy for this article, I did look back a little ruefully. I ended up enjoying some cool concerts in them, dancing through puddles of rain and well - surviving my first holiday in them. Thank you, dear boots!
Stephan: Painful love at first sight
Kiki was to blame. My best friend Charlotte dragged me into a shoe shop in the middle of St Pauli in Hamburg. And there they were: a pair of black boots. With laces. And that's exactly what my 15-year-old self wanted as the crowning glory of a military outfit. (Yes, that's what we wore back then, in the 80s. We didn't have anything.)
Price divided by monthly pocket money: The figure was sobering. Seven months later, I finally had them in my wardrobe. The classic Doc Martens. Black and painful. Blisters without end, but to stand upright and with poise.
Source: Stephan Lamprecht
I didn't feel like taking them off for the next few years. They saw things you'd rather not know. Dancing the night away in the «Front» club, a secret rendezvous under the World Time Clock in (then still) East Berlin, mud on fairground and festival grounds.
A fire at my neighbours' that spread to my flat robbed me of it.
A new pair has been in my shoe cupboard for around five years. But these are «only» shoes for me, not an extension of my personality. And because my colleague can hardly believe that the shoes have already been around for five years, I'll reveal the secret. You should rub them with colourless leather grease at least (!) once a year, preferably more often, leave them to soak in and polish them. This keeps the material nice and elastic.
Anika: Back to the roots
When I bought a pair of Pascal 1460 Mono, it felt like coming home. I hadn't worn Docs since I left school. Because they were too clumsy, too bulky, not wearable at work. That's what I thought. Back then. How stupid I was. Fortunately, I got older and I didn't care about fashion rules. More and more often, my fingers typed the search terms «Dr Martens + black» into the search field of my favourite online shop. And what can I say? The boots then carried me through many exciting years of life.
The Docs have seen me through a chaotic move from Munich to Hamburg, an (expensive) divorce, a holiday in Mallorca, trips to the stormy North Sea, many cold and wet winters and even more walks. The shoes have also brought me back to my roots. I've always been a 90s grunge girl at heart. Even though I now headbang less often in dingy basement pubs, I still harbour that feeling of independence from back then. And Dr Martens are simply the epitome of rebellion.
By the way, I've just bought myself a new pair - no, not the rubber boots. Of course, I won't be throwing away my «old» 1460 anyway.
Source: Anika Schulz
Do you also have Dr Martens and have experienced a lot with them? Tell us in the comments.
Header image: Anika Schulz
Anika Schulz
Teamleader Editorial
Anika.Schulz@galaxus.deAs a child, I was socialised with Mario Kart on SNES before ending up in journalism after graduating from high school. As a team leader at Galaxus, I'm responsible for news. I'm also a trekkie and an engineer.
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