There is only one feud in Herzogenaurach worthy of mention and it's between Adidas and Puma. Founded in the town by two warring brothers, the international sportswear giants have been based here since the 1940s, and their age-old rivalry is legendary. Herzogenaurach has been described as "the town of bent necks," as no local would start a conversation with another without first looking down to check which firm's shoes they were wearing. The town managed to spawn two local rival football teams with pitches not more than 100 metres from each other - RSV is sponsored by Adidas, FC Herzogenaurach by Puma.
Born to Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler and Pauline were Rudolf Dassler and Adolf Dassler, who later became the pioneers in the field of shoe and sports apparel manufacturing. Rudolf Dassler is older brother of Adolf Dassler, and their father Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler worked in a shoe factory, hence the brothers had some insight about shoe manufacturing.
These two global brands were founded after successful shoemaker brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler fell out bitterly. They disbanded their 25-year-old company, the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, which had made shoes for legendary athlete Jesse Owens among others, and formed rival manufacturers on opposite sides of the river Aurach, which runs through the centre of Herzogenaurach. And here the headquarters of these two giants remain today, barely a couple of miles apart.
Born into a family of cobblers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler were not always at odds. In the 1920s, Adi and Rudi, as they were more commonly known, worked happily side by side at the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory).
Adolf developed some studs, business boomed under the Nazis and by the 1936 Olympics Jesse Owens was running in Dassler spikes. But by the fall of the Third Reich the fraternal relationship was in tatters.
The origins of the split between Rudolf and Adolf are hard to pinpoint, but an Allied bomb attack on Herzogenaurach in 1943 illustrated the growing tension. Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in.
"The dirty bastards are back again," Adolf said, apparently referring to the Allied warplanes. Rudolf was convinced that his brother meant him and his family. The damage was never repaired.
What started the spat between the brothers is a point of contention. Town chronicles mention it only in passing as "internal family difficulties", but the most common explanation is that Rudi (apparently the better-looking one) had an affair with Adi's wife, Käthe, for which he was never forgiven.
There were varying successes on both sides as Herzogenaurach's two shoemaking companies grew. Although Puma still claims it invented the removable football boot stud, Adi Dassler and his Adidas company is credited with winning the 1954 World Cup for Germany by providing the team with them.
But Rudi scored points against his brother when Pele won the 1962 World Cup for Brazil - in Puma boots.
At the opening whistle of a 1970 World Cup finals match, Pelé stopped the referee with a last-second request to tie his shoelaces and then knelt down to give millions of television viewers a close-up of his Pumas. Pelé was complying with a request by Puma's representative, Hans Henningsen, to raise the company's profile after receiving $120,000 to wear the shoes.
Mark Spitz, the American swimmer, was en route to winning seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics when he was approached by Horst Dassler, the son of Adolf Dassler, in Munich's Olympic village. Dassler asked Spitz to wear Adidas at the medal ceremonies.
Although most of the two companies' production moved to low-cost countries long ago, handmade shoes for some big names, like David Beckham, are still produced in Germany.
In business terms, it is Adi who has won. Adidas is by far the bigger company, employing 39,000 compared with Puma's 9,000. But it is the nature of the Adi- and Rudi-driven rivalry that has given both firms their fighting spirit, trying to outdo each other by securing endorsements with the world's top sportsmen and women.
Adidas and Puma have recovered from their brushes with disaster as publicly owned companies in the vibrant $17 billion worldwide sports shoe industry, but only after long and messy separations from their family owners.
Both brothers died in the 1970s. They are buried at opposite ends of the town's cemetery. Their companies and their descendants carried on the corporate feud, reaching out into sports other than athletics and soccer in search of high-profile endorsement deals. The rivalry between the two brands has also been brought to life by sponsoring rival sports teams and clubs. In spite of the rift and rivalry, it would be fitting to say that both Rudolf Dassler and Adolf Dassler are the groundbreakers in the field of shoe manufacturing. Adidas and Puma may share intense rivalries in the sports apparel manufacturing space, but one has to remember the fact that both these companies originated from the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.
Neither company is now controlled by descendants of their founders – the brothers are long since dead, and Puma is majority-owned by the French luxury goods maker PPR, while Adidas is owned by lots of small shareholders. Nevertheless the companies still keep their headquarters in Herzogenaurach. Manufacturing may have long since moved to distant corners of the world, but the factory workers have been replaced by young, sporty employees from many nations who concentrate on design, marketing and brand awareness.
Born to Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler and Pauline were Rudolf Dassler and Adolf Dassler, who later became the pioneers in the field of shoe and sports apparel manufacturing. Rudolf Dassler is older brother of Adolf Dassler, and their father Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler worked in a shoe factory, hence the brothers had some insight about shoe manufacturing.
These two global brands were founded after successful shoemaker brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler fell out bitterly. They disbanded their 25-year-old company, the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, which had made shoes for legendary athlete Jesse Owens among others, and formed rival manufacturers on opposite sides of the river Aurach, which runs through the centre of Herzogenaurach. And here the headquarters of these two giants remain today, barely a couple of miles apart.
Born into a family of cobblers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler were not always at odds. In the 1920s, Adi and Rudi, as they were more commonly known, worked happily side by side at the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory).
Adolf developed some studs, business boomed under the Nazis and by the 1936 Olympics Jesse Owens was running in Dassler spikes. But by the fall of the Third Reich the fraternal relationship was in tatters.
The origins of the split between Rudolf and Adolf are hard to pinpoint, but an Allied bomb attack on Herzogenaurach in 1943 illustrated the growing tension. Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in.
"The dirty bastards are back again," Adolf said, apparently referring to the Allied warplanes. Rudolf was convinced that his brother meant him and his family. The damage was never repaired.
What started the spat between the brothers is a point of contention. Town chronicles mention it only in passing as "internal family difficulties", but the most common explanation is that Rudi (apparently the better-looking one) had an affair with Adi's wife, Käthe, for which he was never forgiven.
There were varying successes on both sides as Herzogenaurach's two shoemaking companies grew. Although Puma still claims it invented the removable football boot stud, Adi Dassler and his Adidas company is credited with winning the 1954 World Cup for Germany by providing the team with them.
But Rudi scored points against his brother when Pele won the 1962 World Cup for Brazil - in Puma boots.
At the opening whistle of a 1970 World Cup finals match, Pelé stopped the referee with a last-second request to tie his shoelaces and then knelt down to give millions of television viewers a close-up of his Pumas. Pelé was complying with a request by Puma's representative, Hans Henningsen, to raise the company's profile after receiving $120,000 to wear the shoes.
Mark Spitz, the American swimmer, was en route to winning seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics when he was approached by Horst Dassler, the son of Adolf Dassler, in Munich's Olympic village. Dassler asked Spitz to wear Adidas at the medal ceremonies.
Although most of the two companies' production moved to low-cost countries long ago, handmade shoes for some big names, like David Beckham, are still produced in Germany.
In business terms, it is Adi who has won. Adidas is by far the bigger company, employing 39,000 compared with Puma's 9,000. But it is the nature of the Adi- and Rudi-driven rivalry that has given both firms their fighting spirit, trying to outdo each other by securing endorsements with the world's top sportsmen and women.
Adidas and Puma have recovered from their brushes with disaster as publicly owned companies in the vibrant $17 billion worldwide sports shoe industry, but only after long and messy separations from their family owners.
Both brothers died in the 1970s. They are buried at opposite ends of the town's cemetery. Their companies and their descendants carried on the corporate feud, reaching out into sports other than athletics and soccer in search of high-profile endorsement deals. The rivalry between the two brands has also been brought to life by sponsoring rival sports teams and clubs. In spite of the rift and rivalry, it would be fitting to say that both Rudolf Dassler and Adolf Dassler are the groundbreakers in the field of shoe manufacturing. Adidas and Puma may share intense rivalries in the sports apparel manufacturing space, but one has to remember the fact that both these companies originated from the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.
Neither company is now controlled by descendants of their founders – the brothers are long since dead, and Puma is majority-owned by the French luxury goods maker PPR, while Adidas is owned by lots of small shareholders. Nevertheless the companies still keep their headquarters in Herzogenaurach. Manufacturing may have long since moved to distant corners of the world, but the factory workers have been replaced by young, sporty employees from many nations who concentrate on design, marketing and brand awareness.
Gospels
Accounts on exactly what caused their rivalry differ, but some of the possible explanations include:
Some of the absurd things seen in the town during the height of the rivalry include:
- One brother slept with the wife of the other.
- The wives of the two brothers hated each other.
- One was more successful than the other.
- During an air raid in WW2 one brother exclaimed “those pig dogs again!” and the other brother thought that the first brother was referring to him.
Some of the absurd things seen in the town during the height of the rivalry include:
- Puma and Adidas employees would not marry one another.
- There were Adidas and Puma gangs in the schools.
- Pubs allied to one company would refuse to serve employees of the other.
- Even in death the two brothers are buried at opposite ends of the cemetery.
References: Time; New York Times; Forbes; The Guardian; The Independent; Dazzle Rogers; centives.net
Photos Courtesy: Google Images
Photos Courtesy: Google Images