A long time ago I was told that "Blucher shoes" were copies of a German military shoe. It came up well above the ankle, had a square toe high enough to avoid pressure on toenails. It was rather thick leather and gave a lot of support to the ankle. I don't know if original had steel toe cap, but the ones made for contruction workers in this country do. Usually there was a sturdy leather loop attached to top rear to make it easier to put them on. The heels were at least a half an inch thick.