Rudolf Dassler

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Rudolf Dassler

Rudolf Dassler (born April 29, 1898 in Herzogenaurach ; † October 27, 1974 there ) was a German entrepreneur. He was the founder of the sporting goods manufacturer Puma and the older brother of the founder of Adidas , Adolf Dassler .

Life

Gravestone of Rudolf Dassler

Together with his brother, Rudolf Dassler founded the “Gebrüder Dassler” shoe factory before the Second World War , which became very successful. In May 1933 Dassler became a member of the NSDAP . He later admitted that he had already elected the party in 1932 for economic reasons. Towards the end of the Second World War, the Panzerschreck anti-tank weapon was manufactured in the shoe factory , for which French forced laborers were also used. Dassler was drafted to Glauchau on the occasion of the total mobilization in March 1943 and transferred to the office at the Reich Finance Administration in Łódź in April . In January 1945 he fled the Red Army back to Herzogenaurach. In April he was arrested by the Gestapo for desertion because he had not followed the call to the Reich Security Service . When he was transported to the Dachau concentration camp , he was initially liberated by American soldiers. Rudolf Dassler was then sent to an American prison camp in Hammelburg for a year . He was accused of working for counter-espionage , security and censorship . The Americans are said to have told him that he had been denounced from his own close environment. Rudolf Dassler suspected that his brother Adolf might have been the denouncer to force him out of the company: he had built up his domestic power there since 1943 and made no attempt to help his interned brother.

Division of the company

Even before that, there had been repeated tensions and arguments in which the wives were also involved. Rudolf Dassler was released from captivity on July 31, 1946. From this point on, the two brothers Rudolf and Adolf Dassler fought until their death and their descendants beyond. After his release, Rudolf is said to have denounced Adolf to the military authorities. Since they were unable to decide who lied and who was telling the truth, they let them go a few months later , after they had initially been classified as " accused ". Both brothers then quickly decided to split up the company. So it happens that two of the largest sporting goods manufacturers in the world have their headquarters only a few hundred meters apart. Rudolf Dassler initially wanted to name his company “Ruda” (initials Rudolf Dassler), but his mind was changed, and since then the company has been called Puma . Since June 1, 1948, the company was called Puma Schuhfabrik - Rudolf Dassler (shoes for every sport), wire word : RUDA Herzogenaurach. The entry in the commercial register as PUMA Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler took place on October 1, 1948. Rudolf Dassler had two sons: Armin and Gerd, who also fell out.

The quarrel between the sons Horst (son of Adolf) and Armin (son of Rudolf) began in 1970. In previous years, the fathers had made agreements regarding the conclusion of contracts with athletes and clubs. They had signed a kind of peace agreement with the Brazilian soccer player Pelé . Contrary to this so-called “Pelé Pact”, Armin Dassler signed Pelé for Puma. This was the beginning of the sons war. Adolf and Rudolf Dassler are said not to have spoken a word to each other for decades until they died. When asked for an appreciation on Rudolf's death in 1974, his brother's family refused to comment "out of piety".

development

Rudolf Dassler made a decisive contribution to the further development of football boots : He developed the first series-ready screw-in studded shoes . For the production, the Puma founder brought in numerous football experts such as national coach Sepp Herberger . After he had started development in 1949, the first delivery of the screw-in studded shoes (“Super Atom”) took place at the start of the German football season 1952/53. This season, numerous individual players from German clubs such as Borussia Dortmund , Eintracht Frankfurt , VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Kaiserslautern wore the new model. Among them were the later national players Horst Eckel and Werner Liebrich . As early as the following football season 1953/54, a further developed version of the screw-in studded shoes came on the market under the name "Brasil". A total of eight players from the Hannover 96 eleven wore the new football boots in the victorious final of the German championship on May 23, 1954 .

Under his direction, the company remained a small provincial company. Puma's international reputation was only established under his son Armin Dassler . Rudolf Dassler died of lung cancer on October 27, 1974 at the age of 76.

Web links

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Panzerschreck in the Schuhimperium on spiegel.de
personal data
SURNAME Dassler, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Herzogenaurach
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 1974
Place of death Herzogenaurach