Adolf "Adi" Dassler (3 November 1900 – 6 September 1978) was a German
cobbler
Cobbler(s) may refer to:
*A person who Shoemaking, repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes
Places
* The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland
* Mount Cobbler, Australia
Art, entertainment and media
* The Cobbler (1923 ...
, inventor and entrepreneur who founded the German sportswear company
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
. He was also the younger brother of
Rudolf Dassler
Rudolf "Rudi" Dassler (26 March 1898 – 27 October 1974) was a German cobbler, businessman, a member of the Nazi party and also the founder of the sportswear company Puma.
He was the older brother of Adidas founder, Adolf "Adi" Dassler. The b ...
, founder of
Puma. Dassler was an
innovator
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
in athletic shoe design and one of the early promoters who obtained endorsements from
athletes to drive sale of his products. As a result of his concepts, Adi Dassler built the largest manufacturer of sportswear and equipment. At the time of his death, Adidas had 17 factories and annual sales of one billion
marks
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members
* Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel ...
.
Life
The Brothers Dassler Shoe Factory, 1918–1945
Adi supported himself while attempting to start up his business by repairing shoes in town.
Facing the realities of post-war Germany where there was no reliable supply for material for production or credit to obtain factory equipment or supplies, he began by scavenging army debris in the war-torn countryside: Army helmets and bread pouches supplied leather for soles; parachutes could supply silk for slippers. Dassler became quite adept at modifying available devices to help mechanize production in the absence of electricity. Using belts, for example, he rigged a leather milling machine to a mounted, stationary bicycle powered by the firm's first employee.
The business would be driven by Adi's vision of specialized sport designs. He produced one of the earliest spiked shoes, with spikes forged by the smithy of the family of his friend Fritz Zehlein. He constantly experimented with various materials (such as shark skin and kangaroo leather) to create strong but lightweight shoes. Years later his widow, Käthe Dassler, said: "Developing shoes was his hobby, not his job. He did it very scientifically."
![Adidas shoe factory 1928](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Adidas_shoe_factory_1928.jpg)
After the war, Rudolf was determined to become a policeman. But after he completed his training, he joined Adi's firm on 1 July 1923.
With the support of the Zehlein smithy producing spikes, Adi was able to register Gebrüder Dassler, Sportschuhfabrik, Herzogenaurach ("Dassler Brothers Sports Shoe Factory, Herzogenaurach") on 1 July 1924, where they were operating in a former washroom that was converted to a small workshop with manual electricity generation.
By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather Fußballschuhe (football boots) with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes.
Two factors paved the way for the transformation of the business from a small regional factory, which they moved to in 1927 from their parents' home, to the international shoe distributor it would become. First was the interest showed by former Olympian and then coach of the German Olympic track-and-field team,
Josef Waitzer
Josef Waitzer (1 May 1884 – 28 March 1966) was a German track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He placed 19th in the javelin throw and 16th in the discus throw
The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a ...
. On learning of the plant and Adi's experiments, Waitzer travelled from Munich to Herzogenaurach to see for himself. A long friendship developed between the two, based on interest in improving athletic performance with improved footwear, and Waitzer became something of a consultant to the company. The relationship would prove extremely valuable in giving Adi access to the athletes (German and foreign) at the
1936 Berlin Olympics. As early as the 1928 Amsterdam games, however, the Dasslers' footwear was being used in international competitions.
Lina Radke, for example, the German middle distance runner who
won gold in 1928, wore Dassler track shoes.
Likewise, a German gold medal runner wore Dassler shoes at the 1932 Los Angeles games.
The second key factor for the shoe firm in the early 1930s was the role sport played in the racial-nationalist philosophy of
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. With the rise of the
National Socialist German Workers Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
, athletic teamwork was prioritized. The Dassler brothers did not fail to see how their economic interest would benefit from politics; all three Dassler brothers joined the Nazi Party on 1 May 1933—three months after Hitler was appointed
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
. Rudolf was said to be most ardent believer of the three.
But it was Adi who decided that becoming a coach of and supplier to clubs in the
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
movement was essential to expanded production, and he joined in 1935. (In his denazification proceedings after the war, Adi pointed out that he confined himself to coaching and avoided political rallies. He also testified that he was involved in clubs of other political affiliations, such as a liberal gymnastic club, Herzogenaurach's conservative KHC football club and a workers' sports club named "The Union".) Both Adi and Rudolf were members of the
National Socialist Motor Corps
The National Socialist Motor Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, NSKK) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organisation to the old ...
, and in their correspondence both used the complimentary closing, "Heil Hitler."
In the early 1930s Adi Dassler enrolled in the Schuhfachschule (the Footwear Technical College) in
Pirmasens
Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...
. One of the instructors was Franz Martz, a master producer of
last
A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, an ...
s. Dassler became a frequent house guest of Martz, who permitted Dassler's attentions to his fifteen-year-old daughter, Käthe Martz. On 17 March 1934, the two wed. Unlike Rudolf's wife Friedl (née Strasser), Käthe was somewhat self-assertive and suspicious of the brusque ways of Franconians. She would have frequent run-ins with Adi's parents and Rudolf and his wife, all of whom lived in the same house. Years later, in a letter to Puma's American distributor, Rudolf explained the
rift
In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics.
Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-grabe ...
with his brother as solely to be blamed on Käthe, who he claimed "tried to interfere in business matters …"; he claimed that the brothers' relations were "ideal" until 1933. Käthe would give birth to their son
Horst in March 1936, their first daughter Inge in June 1938 and their second daughter Karin in 1941. After the war, Brigit was born in May 1946 and Sigrid in 1953.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R96374, Berlin, Olympiade, Jesse Owens beim Weitsprung](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R96374%2C_Berlin%2C_Olympiade%2C_Jesse_Owens_beim_Weitsprung.jpg)
Dassler saw the 1936 Berlin Olympics as the key springboard for international exposure. Although his relation with Waitzer ensured that most German athletes would wear Dassler footwear, Dassler had another athlete principally in mind—
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games.
Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...
, the American track-and-field star. Dassler found his way to meeting Owens and wordlessly offered his shoes to the American star. Owens accepted the gesture and wore the distinctive shoes (with two leather strips on the sides and dark spikes) when he defeated
Luz Long
Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long (27 April 1913 – 14 July 1943) was a German Olympic long jumper, notable for winning the silver medal in the event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and for his association with Jesse Owens, who went on to win the ...
in the long jump (shattering his own record in the process), in his two individual gold-winning performances in track and as a member of America's Gold medal upset of the German relay team.
Dasslers' association with Owens proved crucial to the success of the firm. Not only did it immediately catapult the company into an international player in the sportswear field spiking sales overall, but it quite literally later saved the firm. When American troops discovered that the Dassler factory was where the shoes for Owens' Olympic victories were made, they decided to let the works remain standing, and, indeed, many of the troops became good customers. Large orders for basketball, baseball and hockey footwear gave the Dasslers "the first boost on the road to becoming a worldwide success story."
Once war began the Dasslers' ability to profit from Nazi enthusiasm for sport ended as the Reich became a total war machine. The Dassler firm was permitted to operate, but its production was severely curtailed. Then on 7 August 1940 Adi received notice of his conscription into the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
. Although he reported in December to begin training as a radio technician, he was relieved of duty on 28 February 1941 on the ground that his services were essential in Gebrüder Dassler. Rudolf, who had already served four years during the Great War, was drafted in January 1943.
In the early years of the war, the firm was partially converted to a factory for the production of military material. Nevertheless, staff was reduced and supply was hard to come by. But it still continued to produce Waitzer shoes, although some of its football line became known as "Kampf" and "Blitz." By October 1942 worker shortage became so severe that Adi Dassler himself formally requested the use of five Soviet prisoners of war to man his production line.
Wartime conditions exacerbated the simmering dispute between Rudolf and Adi's families. The house that Christoph, Pauline, sons Rudolf and Adi and their wives, and five grandchildren all lived in together seemed stifling, and forced family association at work was further complicated by sister Marie's employment there. Rudolf, angry that his younger brother was determined to be the leader of the Dassler firm (and therefore released from the Wehrmacht), began to assert himself among family members. He used this assumed authority to deny employment to two of Marie's sons, asserting that "there were enough family problems at the company." The decision devastated his sister, since those not employed in permitted industries were nearly guaranteed to be drafted as the army's manpower needs became a gaping maw. Indeed, Marie's sons were eventually conscripted, and they never returned from the war. Fritz Dassler, who was not on speaking terms with Adi, made a similar decision laying off a teenaged seamstress who worked for his lederhosen-turned-army-pouch manufacturer, but had worked previously for four years for Adi. Adi managed to make room at the shoe factory to protect her for the rest of the war.
Rudolf's rage boiled over when he was called up again in January 1943 as part of a total mobilization program. He later expressed (to the Puma American distributors) the belief that he was unfairly repaid for getting his brother "released for the factory" in 1942 and claimed that for his own immediate conscription he "had to thank my brother and his
azi
''Azi'' (''Today'' in Romanian) is a Romanian daily newspaper published in Bucharest. The paper was started in 1990.
Today was also the name of a literary magazine published monthly in Romania, from March 1932 to August 1938, under the directio ...
party friends …" Stationed in
Tuschin in April 1943, Rudolf wrote to his brother: "I will not hesitate to seek the closure of the factory so that you be forced to take up an occupation that will allow you to play the leader and, as a first-class sportsman, to carry a gun." Six months later the factory was indeed shut down, but as part of the Reich's ''
Totaler Krieg—Kürzester Krieg'' (Total War—Shortest War) campaign, part of which involved converting all industry to military production. On leave at the time of the shut down, Rudolf intended to take some of the leather inventory for his own later use. Stunned to find that Adi had already done so, he denounced his brother to the ''Kreisleitung'' (the county level Party leaders), according to Käthe, who treated her husband "in the most demeaning manner."
In December 1943 the shoe-making machinery of the Dassler firm was replaced by spot-welding machines. The Army determined that the Dassler plant would thereafter make ''
Panzerschreck
''Panzerschreck'' (lit. "tank fright", "tank's fright" or "tank's bane") was the popular name for the ''Raketenpanzerbüchse'' 54 ("Rocket Anti-armor Rifle Model 54", abbreviated to RPzB 54), an 88 mm reusable anti-tank rocket launcher dev ...
'', a shoulder-fired tube copied after captured American
bazooka
Bazooka () is the common name for a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the ...
s. Like the American proto-type, the weapon was designed to be relatively light weight and able to penetrate tank armor. Stationary testing suggested it could penetrate 230 mm (9"), 15–75 mm (½" to 3") deeper than the American bazooka. The Army's contractor was Schriker & Co., located in nearby
Vach
Vach is a district in the city of Fürth, Germany. Originally a separate town, it was incorporated into Fürth in 1972. It is first mentioned in documents concerning Gundekar II of Eichstätt in 1059. As of 1961, Vach has an area of 8.208 km² ...
, which shifted assembly to Herzogenaurach to avoid Allied air raids. Parts were transported by rail to the Dassler plant where they were welded. The simple design of the weapon allowed the contractor to quickly train former seamstresses to spot weld sights and blast shields onto the pipes provided. The more complicated production of rockets continued in Vach. The weapons were to be distributed to tank-destroying detachments, and by March 1945 92,000 ''Panzerschrecks'' were in active use at the fronts of the rapidly constricting periphery of German territory. Although the weapon was remarkably effective and easily produced, its availability came too late in the war to save the Reich.
Back in Tuschin, Rudolf continued to make good on his resolve to wrest the plant from his brother. Using contacts at the ''
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
'' he attempted to have the production of ''Panzerschrecks'' replaced by government-ordered production of army boots under a patent he personally held. The patent proved defective, and his plan came to nothing. Unable to obtain permission to leave the Polish outpost, Rudolf turned to his own devising. Several weeks before 19 January 1945, when the Soviets overran Tuschin (which then reverted to its original name, Tuszyn) and decimated his unit, Rudolf had fled to Herzogenaurach (where a doctor provided him a certificate of military incapacity owing to a frozen foot). The now-defunct unit had been folded into the ''
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...
'' (SS). The sources for what Rudolf did between his desertion from Tuschin and the funeral of Rudolf's and Adi's father on 4 April 1945 is among the disputed records in the American
denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
panels. On the day after the funeral he was arrested and taken to the
Bärenschanze prison run by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
in
Nürnberg. He remained there until the Allied liberation in early May.
When American troops reached Herzogenaurach, tanks paused before the Dassler factory pondering whether to blow it up. Käthe immediately approached the troops and argued that the plant was simply a sports shoes producer. The troops spared the plant, taking over the family house in the process. Two weeks after the liberation of Herzogenaurach, Rudolf returned. As the American denazification process proceeded, the threat of liability from their Nazi past drove an irreconcilable rift between brothers Rudolf and Adi, each seeking to save himself.
The denazification proceedings and the family rupture, 1946
![Adi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Adi.dassler_Skulptur.jpg)
On 25 July 1945, about two months after the arrival of U.S. troops, Rudolf was arrested by the American occupation authorities, on suspicion that he worked for the ''
Sicherheitsdienst
' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...
'' (the secret service of the ''Reichsführer-SS'' commonly known as the SD) engaged in counterespionage and censorship, and was sent to an internment camp in
Hammelburg
Hammelburg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It sits in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia. It lies on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt. Hammelburg is the oldest winegrowing town (''Weinstadt'') in Francon ...
. Rudolf began to prepare a defense that he did not voluntarily help the Reich and did not in any event engage in SS or SD activities. The American investigators soon discovered his early Nazi party membership and proof that he volunteered for the Wehrmacht in 1941. They even knew that in Tuschin his job was to keep track of "personal and smuggling cases." His key problem, however, was in explaining his activities after he had been summoned to Nuremberg in March by the Gestapo. Rudolf maintained that he had been summoned on 13 March for an investigation of his earlier unauthorized departure from Tuschin and did nothing but report daily to the Gestapo while they investigated him for over two weeks. He claimed that he escaped on 20 March. Rudolf used written statements of his former superior in Tuschin (who was in the same camp and alleged to be the intelligence chief of the region) and a driver he encountered after he was arrested by the Gestapo in April (who was also incarcerated with Rudolf). Rudolf made much use of the latter's testimony and averred that he had been sentenced by the Gestapo to the
Dachau concentration camp
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
. Rudolf claimed that en route the driver was ordered to shoot all the prisoners, disregarded the order, continued toward Dachau but was stopped by advancing Allied troops to whom he released the prisoners, including Rudolf. The American investigator in charge of the case did not credit any of this testimony, which he regarded as mere cover for the unlawful activity of all three. He noted that both Rudolf's wife and his brother Adi testified that Rudolf worked for the Gestapo. The investigation ground on for nearly a year. During the time it became apparent that it was not possible to hold all the prisoners for a detailed examination of the case, and the authorities decided to release all persons not deemed to be a security threat. Accordingly, Rudolf was released on 31 July 1946.
Before Rudolf was released, Adi himself had to appear before the denazification panel. The result was announced on 13 July 1946: Adi was declared a ''Belasteter'', the second most serious category of Nazi offenders, which included profiteers, and subjected the convict up to 10 years in prison,
but the immediate threat was that he would be removed from management of the firm. His early membership in the Nazi Party and the Hitler Youth were not contestable. But on appeal he amassed a portfolio of testimony attesting to his good conduct during the war. Adi's staunchest supporter was Herzogenaurach's mayor, whom the Allied forces trusted. A nearby mayor, who was half-Jewish, testified that Adi warned him of a potential Gestapo arrest and hid him on his own property. A longtime Communist party member testified that Adi was never involved in political activities. Adi moreover showed that, far from profiting from the forced weapons production, the firm lost 100,000 marks. Despite Adi's evidence, the committee did not acquit him. Instead, they reclassified him as ''Minderbelasteter'' (Lesser Offender),
[ This source contains a copy of the verdict.] a category of lesser culpability resulting in probation of two to three years with various conditions but still requiring that Adi not operate Dassler Shoes. Adi hired counsel to appeal the decision; Rudolf, who had just been released, saw this as his opportunity to wrest control of the business from Adi.
In the course of the appeal proceedings Rudolf Dassler inserted statements that claimed that Adi Dassler had organized the production of weapons himself and for his own profit and that Rudolf would have resisted the change in production if he were present. He also claimed that his brother had falsely denounced him and that Adi had made political speeches to employees at the plant. Among other proofs submitted by Adi's counsel was a strong denial of all Rudolf's claims by Käthe. On 11 November 1946 the Spruchkammer Höchstadt sitting in Herzogenaurach changed Adi's status to ''Mitläufer'' (follower), relieving him of most of his civil disabilities, but still required some supervision. On 3 February 1947, ownership was returned and he was formally granted permission to resume management of the firm.
Rudolf's belief that Adi had denounced him and his conduct during his brother's appeal made further relations between them impossible. In fact, it irreparably divided the family. Mother Paulina sided with Rudolf and Friedl, who cared for her the rest of her life. Their sister Marie, who never forgave Rudolf for the death of her sons, sided with Adi and Käthe. Rudolf, his wife and two children left the family home and moved across the river, where he would take over the second factory of the Dassler firm. In their separation Adi retained the first factory and the family villa. As for the rest of the firm's assets, the two divided them one-by-one. Once the
brothers divided their businesses they never spoke again.
Founding Adidas, 1946–1947
After the war, the Dassler firm found itself with some of the same problems that it faced at the beginning. A world war had decimated the German economy and supplies for the shoe factory were hard to come by. In addition, the firm had to convert back from weapons to shoe production. This time, however, the American occupying authorities were interested in reviving economic activity, so they gave the firm active encouragement. American officers had commandeered the Dassler house for their residence on 16 April 1945, and, thus, Adi had close contact with officials who gave him access to unneeded war material for production. Until a source of leather became available Adi made use of the rubber from fuel tanks and rafts and canvas from tents to make shoes. Adi was thus able to produce shoes, and save for the months in 1946 while under the classification of ''Belasteter'' he was able to manage the business (from July 1946 to February 1947 under the supervision of a trustee) until the separation from his brother in 1948.
![Adidas Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Adidas_Logo.svg)
During the negotiations to separate the firm, Rudolf and Adi allowed the employees to determine which resulting firm they would work for. Because Rudolf had mainly concerned himself with sales and administration, most of the sales staff opted to join Rudolf at the Würtzburger Strasse factory. The rest, including almost all the technicians and those involved in product development and production, remained with Adi. Adi thus ended up with nearly two-thirds of the employees. To partially fill the void left by the departure of the administrative personnel Käthe and her sister Marianne Martz joined the firm and acted in a variety of capacities.
Meanwhile, Adi was concerned in designing a distinctive look for his shoes, at least partially so that it would be possible to show which athletes used his footwear. He fell upon the idea of coloring the straps used for reinforcement on the sides of the shoes a different color than the shoes themselves. He experimented with different numbers of straps and ultimately decided on three. The "three stripes" became a distinctive mark of Adidas shoes. In March 1949 Dassler registered the three stripe logo as the company's trademark. As for the company's name, the plan was to use a contraction of Adi's nickname and last name (much as Rudolf originally contemplated by naming his firm "Ruda" before deciding on "Puma"), but "Addas" was rejected on the ground that it was used by a children's shoe manufacturer. Accordingly, in his 18 August 1949 company registration, Adi added a handwritten "i" between Ad- and -das to maintain the contraction (''Adi Das''sler). As a result, the company became known as ''Adolf Dassler adidas Schuhfabrik''.
Adidas' breakthrough, 1948–1978
Like the Dasslers,
Sepp Herberger
Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...
joined the Nazi Party in 1933.
In 1936 after Germany's humiliating quarter final defeat by Norway at the Berlin Games, the Nazi sports authorities appointed him to coach the national football team. Herberger began an association with the Dassler firm having been cultivated by Rudolf Dassler. After the breakup Herberger sided with the Puma firm, until Rudolf once again felt his authority challenged and insulted him. Herberger switched his allegiance to Adidas. The nature of the dispute is unknown; some thought it involved the payments owed if the German team wore Puma shoes.
In many respects the fit was better with Adi, who was quiet, willing to learn the needs of football players and more innovative than his brother. Herberger's drive to make Germany a dominant force in international football predated the war. He learned of 18 year old
Fritz Walter
Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (, ; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany an ...
in 1938 and began grooming him for the team. When war came Herberger was able to keep Walter out of the army. After the war, Herberger was deemed a ''Mitlaufer'' and the post-war German authorities continued him as the coach of the national team.
Adi soon became a regular part of the entourage of the national team, who sat beside Herberger and adjusted players' shoes mid-game.
![Soccer4 Walk of Ideas Berlin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Soccer4_Walk_of_Ideas_Berlin.JPG)
West Germany (established in May 1949) was not eligible for the 1950 World Cup (the first after the war), and so all preparations were made with a view toward the
1954 matches in Bern, Switzerland. By that time Adidas's football boots were considerably lighter than the ones made before the war, based on English designs. At the World Cup Adi had a secret weapon, which he revealed when West Germany made the finals against the overwhelmingly favored Hungarian team, which was undefeated since May 1950 and had defeated West Germany 8–3 in group play. Despite this defeat, West Germany made the knock-out rounds by twice defeating Turkey handily. The team defeated Yugoslavia and Austria to reach the final (a remarkable achievement), where the hope of many German fans was simply that the team "avoid another humiliating defeat" at the hands of the Hungarians.
The day of the final began with light rain, which brightened the prospects of the West German team who called it "''Fritz Walter-Wetter''" because the team's best player excelled in muddy conditions.
Dassler informed Herberger before the match of his latest innovation—"screw in studs." Unlike the traditional boot which had fixed leather spike studs, Dassler's shoe allowed spikes of various lengths to be affixed depending on the state of the pitch. As the playing field at Wankdorf Stadium drastically deteriorated, Herberger famously announced, "Adi, screw them on."
The longer spikes improved the footing of West German players compared to the Hungarians whose mud-caked boots were also much heavier. The West Germans staged a come from behind upset, winning 3-2, in what became known as the "Miracle in Bern." Herberger publicly praised Dassler as a key contributor to the win, and Adidas's fame rose both in West Germany, where the win was considered a key post-war event in restoring German self-esteem
[ and abroad, where in the first televised World Cup final viewers were introduced to "the ultimate breakthrough."]
Personal life
Dassler was married to Käthe until his death from heart failure in 1978. They had 5 children. In 1973, their son Horst Dassler
Horst Dassler (12 March 1936 – 9 April 1987) was a German businessman. The son of Adolf "Adi" Dassler, founder of Adidas. Horst Dassler founded Arena, a swimwear company, and became chairman of Adidas, and at the time of his death it was the w ...
founded Arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
, a producer of swimming equipment. Käthe Dassler died on 31 December 1984.
Posthumous
After Adolf Dassler's death, his son Horst and his wife, Käthe, took over the management. Horst died on 11 April 1987.
Adidas was transformed into a private limited company
In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...
in 1989, but remained family property until its IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
in 1995. The last of the family members who worked for Adidas was Frank Dassler (the grandson of Rudolf), head of the legal department since 2004, who resigned in January 2018.
In 2006, a sculpture of Dassler was unveiled in the Adi Dassler Stadium in Herzogenaurach. It was created by the artist Josef Tabachnyk.
See also
* Dassler brothers feud
The Dassler brothers feud was a conflict between two brothers and shoe manufacturers, Adolf ("Adi") and Rudolf ("Rudi") Dassler, in the latter half of the 20th century. Their feud led to the creation of Adidas and Puma, two of the biggest shoe ma ...
* German inventors and discoverers
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This is a list of German inventors and discoverers. The following list comprises people from Germany or German-speaking Europe, and also people of predominantly German heritage, in alphabetical order of the surname.
For the li ...
References
Sources
*
External links
Biographie:Adidas
*
ADOLF DASSLER: THE CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE LEADER BEHIND ADIDAS, Adidas Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dassler, Adolf
1900 births
1978 deaths
Adolf
Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...
People from Herzogenaurach
German company founders
20th-century German businesspeople
20th-century German inventors
Shoe designers
German military personnel of World War II
Nazi Party members
People from the Kingdom of Bavaria
Adidas people
Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
German military personnel of World War I
National Socialist Motor Corps members