8. Two brothers created competing shoe companies because they couldn’t stand each other
The brothers Dassler, Rudolf and Adolph, sons of a shoemaker, started a shoe manufacturing company in Weimar Germany in 1924. They manufactured primarily sports shoes. In 1936 the brothers persuaded American sprinter Jesse Owens to wear their shoes at the Munich Olympics. Owens won four Gold Medals in their shoes. Both brothers joined the Nazi Party and following their successful Olympics foray their business boomed. Then World War II came. Manufacturing sports shoes was not a wartime industry. Demand plummeted. Problems between the brothers were exacerbated by wartime demands. Adolph, who was known as Adi, did not get along with his brother’s wife, and neither of their wives were particularly fond of each other. After the war ended, the brothers attempted to restore their business, located in the town of Herzogenaurach, about twelve miles from Nuremberg.
Their attempt failed. Rudolf had been arrested by the Americans late in the war, and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS. He was convinced his brother, Adi, had denounced him to the Allies. Rudolf was released after Adi appeared before a denazification panel convened by the Americans. During his appearances, Rudolf informed the panel that his brother had led the effort to convert the shoe factory to the manufacture of anti-tank weapons during the war. The rifts between the brothers also divided their extended family, and by late 1947 were totally irreconcilable. In early 1947 the shoe factory, which had been confiscated by the Allies, was returned to Adi’s control and he was allowed to resume management of the company. Enraged, Rudolf moved across the Aurach River, where the shoe firm had a second factory. Both brothers started new companies in their respective factories.