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Dassler's Biography
Today it's something we take for granted, but in 1920, at the age of 20, Adolph (Adi) Dasslerinvented spiked shoes for track and field. Four years later Adi and his brother Rudolph (Rudi) founded the German sports shoe company Gebrüder Dassler You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.—later known as adidas(pron. AH-dee-DAHS, not ah-DEE-duhs). The brothers' father was a cobbler in Herzogenaurauch, Germany, where they were born.
The Beginning
By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather Fußballschuhe (Adi was an avid soccer player) with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes. Dassler is said to even have invented the spikes on football shoes. Beginning with the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Adi's uniquely designed shoes began to gain a worldwide reputation. You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. was wearing a pair of Dassler's track shoes when he won gold for the USA at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. By the time of his death in 1959, Dassler held over 700 patents related to sports shoes and other athletic equipment. In 1978, he was inducted into the American Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame as one of the founders of the modern sporting goods industry.
The Split of the Dassler Brothers
Adi and Rudi split up in 1948 when Rudi founded Puma (one of Adidas' biggest competitors in Europe) and Adi renamed his firm by combining elements of his name. In the 1970s, Adidas was the top athletic shoe brand sold in the US.
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were both wearing Adidas boxing shoes in their "Fight of the Century" in 1971. Adidas was named the official supplier for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Although still a strong, well-known brand today, Adidas' share of the world sports shoe market dropped over the years, and what began as a German family business is now a corporation (Adidas-Salomon AG) combined with the French global concern Salomon. In 2004 Adidas bought Valley Apparel Company, a U.S. company that held licenses for outfitting more than 140 U.S. college athletic teams. In August 2005 adidas announced that it was purchasing the American shoemaker Reebok. Currently, adidas ranks number two in worldwide sales, after first-place Nike and third-ranked Reebok. But the Adidas world headquarters are still located in Adi Dassler's hometown of Herzogenaurauch. They also own ~9% of the world-renowned German soccer club 1. FC Bayern München.
During the War
During the war both Dassler brothers were members of the NSDAP and near the end even produced a weapon called "Panzerschreck" (~tank-fright) an anti-tank bazooka with the help of forced-labor. Rudolf Dassler assumed that his brother Adolph had turned him in to the US-Americans as being a member of the Waffen-SS which among most likely other disputes led to their separation and life long family dispute. It was a bit "unglücklich" that in May 2009 Adidas rented a villa in Brasil which was decorated with two Nazi-paintings and swastika ornaments along the pool. But most guests allegedly didn't notice them.
The Brand Adidas
In my research I came across You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., called "Der Markencheck" which checks the brand Adidas among others for the power of the brand. If your German is already intermediate or higher you might want to watch this documentation but for all others I will quickly summarize it here. In a not necessarily representative test with various sports people, it turned out that just thinking that one wears Adidas (or possibly any other renowned brand) felt better during sports and even thought that they were faster. What they didn't know was, that they were wearing a no name product. A technical test showed that with higher quality shoes one needs fewer steps than with cheaper models which means that one needs less energy to run.
While the quality of Adidas' products is certainly high, when it comes to daily wear, it seems to be "überteuert" (=overpriced) when compared to similar no-name products, its sports products are rather state of the art, yet not the only excellent product on the market.
Today it's something we take for granted, but in 1920, at the age of 20, Adolph (Adi) Dasslerinvented spiked shoes for track and field. Four years later Adi and his brother Rudolph (Rudi) founded the German sports shoe company Gebrüder Dassler You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.—later known as adidas(pron. AH-dee-DAHS, not ah-DEE-duhs). The brothers' father was a cobbler in Herzogenaurauch, Germany, where they were born.
The Beginning
By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather Fußballschuhe (Adi was an avid soccer player) with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes. Dassler is said to even have invented the spikes on football shoes. Beginning with the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Adi's uniquely designed shoes began to gain a worldwide reputation. You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. was wearing a pair of Dassler's track shoes when he won gold for the USA at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. By the time of his death in 1959, Dassler held over 700 patents related to sports shoes and other athletic equipment. In 1978, he was inducted into the American Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame as one of the founders of the modern sporting goods industry.
The Split of the Dassler Brothers
Adi and Rudi split up in 1948 when Rudi founded Puma (one of Adidas' biggest competitors in Europe) and Adi renamed his firm by combining elements of his name. In the 1970s, Adidas was the top athletic shoe brand sold in the US.
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were both wearing Adidas boxing shoes in their "Fight of the Century" in 1971. Adidas was named the official supplier for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Although still a strong, well-known brand today, Adidas' share of the world sports shoe market dropped over the years, and what began as a German family business is now a corporation (Adidas-Salomon AG) combined with the French global concern Salomon. In 2004 Adidas bought Valley Apparel Company, a U.S. company that held licenses for outfitting more than 140 U.S. college athletic teams. In August 2005 adidas announced that it was purchasing the American shoemaker Reebok. Currently, adidas ranks number two in worldwide sales, after first-place Nike and third-ranked Reebok. But the Adidas world headquarters are still located in Adi Dassler's hometown of Herzogenaurauch. They also own ~9% of the world-renowned German soccer club 1. FC Bayern München.
During the War
During the war both Dassler brothers were members of the NSDAP and near the end even produced a weapon called "Panzerschreck" (~tank-fright) an anti-tank bazooka with the help of forced-labor. Rudolf Dassler assumed that his brother Adolph had turned him in to the US-Americans as being a member of the Waffen-SS which among most likely other disputes led to their separation and life long family dispute. It was a bit "unglücklich" that in May 2009 Adidas rented a villa in Brasil which was decorated with two Nazi-paintings and swastika ornaments along the pool. But most guests allegedly didn't notice them.
The Brand Adidas
In my research I came across You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., called "Der Markencheck" which checks the brand Adidas among others for the power of the brand. If your German is already intermediate or higher you might want to watch this documentation but for all others I will quickly summarize it here. In a not necessarily representative test with various sports people, it turned out that just thinking that one wears Adidas (or possibly any other renowned brand) felt better during sports and even thought that they were faster. What they didn't know was, that they were wearing a no name product. A technical test showed that with higher quality shoes one needs fewer steps than with cheaper models which means that one needs less energy to run.
While the quality of Adidas' products is certainly high, when it comes to daily wear, it seems to be "überteuert" (=overpriced) when compared to similar no-name products, its sports products are rather state of the art, yet not the only excellent product on the market.