Adolf Dassler

Adolf "Adi" Dassler (3 November 1900 – 6 September 1978) was a German cobbler, inventor, member of the Nazi party, and entrepreneur who founded the German sportswear company Adidas.

He was also the younger brother of Rudolf Dassler, founder of Puma.

Dassler was an innovator in athletic shoe design and one of the early promoters who obtained endorsements from athletes to drive sales 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.

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-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 was 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."

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.

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.

As early as the 1928 Amsterdam games, 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.

The second key factor for the shoe firm in the early 1930s was the role sport played in the racial-nationalist philosophy of Hitler.

With the rise of the National Socialist German Workers Party, athletic teamwork was prioritized.

The Dassler brothers did not fail to see how their economic interest would benefit from politics.

In the early 1930s Adi Dassler enrolled in the Schuhfachschule (the Footwear Technical College) in Pirmasens.

One of the instructors was Franz Martz, a master producer of lasts.

Dassler became a frequent house guest of Martz, who permitted Dassler's attentions to his fifteen-year-old daughter, Käthe Martz.

Likewise, a German gold medal runner wore Dassler shoes at the 1932 Los Angeles games.

All three Dassler brothers joined the Nazi Party on 1 May 1933—three months after Hitler was appointed Chancellor.

Rudolf was said to be most ardent believer of the three.

Adi decided that becoming a coach of and supplier to clubs in the Hitler Youth movement was essential to expanded production.

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.

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 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, and in their correspondence both used the complimentary closing, "Heil Hitler."

The relationship proved extremely valuable in giving Adi access to the athletes, both German and foreign, at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.