Straddling the river of Aurach in the German state of Bavaria lies the small town of Herzogenaurach.
This is the story of Puma and Adidas.
The Dassler brothers before the fallout.
Rudolf (left) and Adi (right).
Photo credit: Adi & Kathe Dassler Memorial Foundation
But Adi had his own dreams.
He wanted to become an athlete.
While pursuing the many sporting disciplines, Adi realized that the athletes of each discipline lacked specialized shoes.
Adi with his inventive mind, led the technical development, while Rudolf was head of sales and marketing.
By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather football boots with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes.
The company had a dozen workers, and together they produced 50 pair of shoes per day.
Adi Dassler as a young man.
Dasslers' association with Owens proved crucial to the success of the firm.
It immediately catapult the company into an international player in the sportswear field, spiking sales overall.
In 1943, they were the only company in Germany still producing athletic footwear.
The Dassler shoe factory near Herzogenaurach train station in 1928.
Photo credit: Adi & Kathe Dassler Memorial Foundation
Adi Dasslers bicycle pedal-powered milling machine.
Breaking apart Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik was the only way forward.
Adi kept the manufacturing department and went on to form Adidas.
And with the family, the town itself split into two.
Some joined Adidas and some joined Puma.
Each side had its own bakery, its own bars, its own sports clubs.
The habit is so widespread in Herzogenaurach that it has been nicknamed the town of bent necks.
The adidas shoe factory in the 1950s.
They always had to speak of the competitor on the other side of the Aurach.
But not everyone was willing to be caught up in the family feud.
Others took advantage of the rivalry.
When a handyman had to visit Rudolfs house for work, they would sometimes wear Adidas shoes on purpose.
The brothers took the feud to their grave.
Even in death, they refused to lie next to each other.
Both brothers, while buried in the same cemetery, their graves are about as far apart as possible.
But things are changing.
Of course his decision to join the rival company was not taken too kindly by his family.
It also raised more than a few eyebrows in the town.
But Frank doesnt care.
This rivalry was years ago, it’s history now, he said.
Since the companies went public they are no longer in family ownership.
The workforce has also diversified.
Now most workers arent from town and the friction between them have eased into a less aggressive rivalry.
Puma branding on a manhole cover in Herzogenaurach.
Photo credit:ramanzel/Flickr
The town of Herzogenaurach.
