His specially developed surgical methods made him world-famous – Professor Ferdinand Sauerbruch. As a surgeon, he had very clear ideas about the characteristics and quality of his surgical instruments. And in this respect, it was far from easy to always meet Sauerbruch’s high standards.
The famous surgeon turned to the instrument maker Zepf in Seitingen, still in its infancy back then, to realise his desired surgical instruments and special prototypes for arm and leg prostheses. Isidor Zepf, who founded the company in 1921, and his daughter Rosa (probably one of the first female surgical instrument makers) were able to manufacture these products according to the wishes and ideas of the Berlin professor. The cooperation, which was really quite unusual at that time, formed the basis for the successful development of Zepf in Seitingen. And it proves what is still a matter of course for Zepf today: to be able to implement innovations in the field of medical instruments at short notice and and to develop them into exemplary solutions in cooperation with renowned doctors. From its humble beginnings, the cottage industry began to grow to meet an ever-increasing demand for medical instruments.
Over the decades to come, Helmut Zepf senior and Helmut Zepf junior shaped the company into a leading manufacturer of dental instruments in Germany.