It was bred in the 1920s by Heinz and Lutz Heck in an attempt to breed back the extinct aurochs (Bos primigenius).

[10] In the first years of the Weimar Republic, the brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck independently started their extensive breeding-back programmes.

[11] Their motivation was to rescue the aurochs from oblivion because it was constantly confused with the European bison, the other large bovine of Holocene Europe.

Only eleven years after they started their breeding experiments, just as the Weimar Republic was drawing to a close, they each announced success.

[13][14] Lutz Heck used Spanish Fighting Bulls for his breed, some of which were released in the Polish Romincka Forest, but survived until the late 1940s when they were killed during the end of the Second World War.

[17] Advocates of Heck cattle often claim that Heinz' and Lutz' breeding results looked largely identical, thus "proving the success" of their experiment.

The introduction of Heck cattle into nature reserves in order to restore ancient landscapes inspired Rewilding Europe.

[19] The way of no interference in the Oostvaardersplassen, however, was terminated in 2018, as large numbers of animals died of starvation during the cold winters of 2005 and 2010, which caused a loss of public support.

Cis van Vuure describes the work of W. Herre in 1953 and O. Koehler in 1952: Criticism also focused on the carelessness, the ease and the speed with which they had carried out their experiments as well as the genetic basis.

Heck cattle are bulky like many other domestic breeds, whilst the aurochs, as a wild bovine, had an athletic body shape.

All in all, proportions and body shape of Heck cattle are not significantly similar to the aurochs and do not differ from many other domestic breeds.

[9] Heck cattle demonstrate a higher amount of heterogeneity than any wild animal or most other domestic breeds.