Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
3 min of reading 
0 comments 
From A Small Kitchen In Herzogenaurach, Two Giants Were Born: Adidas And Puma. The Dispute Between Adolf And Rudolf Dassler Turned A German Town Into A Symbol Of Global Sports Rivalry
For much of the 20th century, Herzogenaurach, a small German town, lived under the weight of a family rivalry that turned into a global phenomenon. It was there that brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler founded a sports shoe factory and, years later, became direct competitors, creating two of the largest brands in the world: Adidas and Puma.
How It All Started
In the early 1920s, Adolf Dassler, known as Adi, began making athletic shoes in his mother’s kitchen.
Shortly thereafter, his brother Rudolf, known as Rudi, joined the project, and together they founded the Dassler Brothers Sports Shoe Company.
-
A rare storm transformed part of the Gulf into an unlikely scene of hail, extreme rain, and tornado risk in the middle of the desert, with volumes that exceeded the annual average in a single day.
-
Brazil catches the world’s attention with ships powered by ethanol and biodiesel that have lower emissions, an unprecedented certification with advantages in chartering, and a revolution in cabotage.
-
A couple who only has Sundays free has built a hand-dug pool, a hamburger joint, a dance hall, and a playground in their own home without hiring a mason, and even with breaks due to accidents and the pandemic, the work has never truly stopped.
-
Furniture made with aluminum and glass does not warp and has become an alternative to replace MDF in Brazil.
Adi focused on the creation and technical perfection of the shoes, while Rudi handled sales and business expansion.
This combination of talents led the brothers to revolutionize the market by developing specific models for runners and professional athletes.
Jesse Owens And Worldwide Fame
Success came in 1936 during the Berlin Olympics. Affiliated with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party, the brothers convinced African American athlete Jesse Owens to compete wearing their shoes.
The result was historic: Owens won four events and captured four gold medals with Dassler shoes on his feet.
The athlete’s victories gave the brand unprecedented international visibility. Sales grew rapidly, but tensions between the brothers also increased, as their business views and personalities began to clash more and more.
War, Distrust, And Separation
With the outbreak of the Second World War, Rudolf was drafted into the army, while Adolf remained in Germany.
This difference fueled distrust. Rudi believed that his brother and sister-in-law had used political contacts to avoid his draft.
The family tension intensified, and in 1948, the partnership came to an end. Adolf founded Adidas, combining his nickname with the initials of his surname (“Adi Das”). Rudolf created Ruda, later rebranded as Puma, inspired by the agility and strength of the feline.
The new factories were set up on opposite sides of the town, and the division went beyond business: Herzogenaurach became literally divided.
Entire families split between “Adi’s people” and “Rudi’s people.” Local stores only sold products from one of the brands, and many inhabitants even avoided crossing paths in the streets.
Peace On The Field
For more than half a century, the rivalry between the two companies kept the division in the town alive. Only in 2009 did the companies decide to symbolically end the dispute.
On World Peace Day, they organized a football match with employees from both brands, regarded as a historic milestone in Herzogenaurach.
The teams were captained by CEOs Herbert Hainer (Adidas) and Jochen Zeitz (Puma), in front of 700 employees.
The uniform blended the symbols of both companies: the three stripes of Adidas and the leaping feline of Puma.
A limited collection of 80 shirts was auctioned off, with proceeds going to the organization Peace One Day. According to the official statement, “the symbolic handshake between Adidas and Puma helped raise awareness of World Peace Day and the need for nonviolence and ceasefire.”
Two Giants, One Legacy
Today, Adidas and Puma coexist peacefully in Herzogenaurach. Both have established themselves as global powerhouses in the sports industry, albeit on different scales.
Adidas is worth almost 34 billion euros (approximately R$ 216.5 billion), while Puma totals just over 3 billion euros (R$ 19 billion), according to Bloomberg data.
The story of the Dassler brothers spanned decades and inspired books and audiovisual productions. The bestseller “Invasion of the Field: Adidas, Puma And The Behind The Scenes Of Modern Sports”, by Barbara Smit, details the break between Adi and Rudi.
The documentary “Shoe Wars: Adidas Vs. Puma”, released on Disney+, shows how a family dispute transformed the sports world and divided an entire town for years.
With information from UOL.
-
-
-
-
-
16 pessoas reagiram a isso.