[5][6][7] By 1925, the Dasslers were making leather Fußballschuhe (football boots) with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes.

[8] 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.

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

[8] Lina Radke, for example, the German middle distance runner who won gold in 1928, wore Dassler track shoes.

On 17 March 1934, the two wed.[17] Unlike Rudolf's wife Friedl (née Strasser), Käthe was somewhat self-assertive and suspicious of the brusque ways of Franconians.

[18] Years later, in a letter to Puma's American distributor, Rudolf blamed the rift with his brother entirely on Käthe, claiming that she "tried to interfere in business matters".

Owens accepted the gesture and wore the distinctive shoes, with two leather strips on the sides and dark spikes, when he defeated Luz Long in the long jump, shattering his record in the process, and in his two individual gold-winning performances in track and as a member of America's Gold medal upset of the German relay team.

[14] Large orders for basketball, baseball and hockey footwear gave the Dasslers "the first boost on the road to becoming a worldwide success story.

Although he reported in December to begin training as a radio technician, he was relieved of duty on 28 February 1941 on the ground that his services were essential in Gebrüder Dassler.

By October 1942, worker shortages became so severe that Adi Dassler requested the use of five Soviet prisoners of war to man his production line.

The house that Christoph, Pauline, sons Rudolf and Adi and their wives, and five grandchildren all lived in together seemed stifling, and forced family association at work was further complicated by sister Marie's employment there.

Rudolf, angry that his younger brother was determined to be the leader of the Dassler firm, and therefore released from the Wehrmacht, began to assert himself among family members.

[29] Stationed in Tuschin in April 1943, Rudolf wrote to his brother: "I will not hesitate to seek the closure of the factory so that you be forced to take up an occupation that will allow you to play the leader and, as a first-class sportsman, to carry a gun.

Stunned to find that Adi had already done so, he denounced his brother to the Kreisleitung (the county level Party leaders), according to Käthe, who treated her husband "in the most demeaning manner.

The Army determined that the Dassler plant would make Panzerschreck, a shoulder-fired tube copied after captured American bazookas.

[32] The Army's contractor was Schriker & Co., located in nearby Vach, which shifted assembly to Herzogenaurach to avoid Allied air raids.

[11] The simple design of the weapon allowed the contractor to quickly train former seamstresses to spot weld sights and blast shields onto the pipes provided.

Several weeks before 19 January 1945, the Soviets overran Tuschin (which then reverted to its original name, Tuszyn) and decimated his unit.

As the American denazification process proceeded, the threat of liability from their Nazi past drove an irreconcilable rift between brothers Rudolf and Adi, each seeking to save himself.

[35] On 25 July 1945, about two months after the arrival of U.S. troops, Rudolf was arrested by the American occupation authorities on suspicion of having worked for the Sicherheitsdienst, the secret service of the Reichsführer-SS (commonly known as the SD), which had been engaged in counterespionage and censorship.

The American investigator in charge of the case did not credit any of this testimony, which he regarded as mere cover for the unlawful activities of all three men.

The result was announced on 13 July 1946: Adi was declared a Belasteter, the second most serious category of Nazi offenders, which included profiteers, and could lead to a sentence of up to 10 years in prison for those convicted.

[45] On 11 November 1946 the Spruchkammer Höchstadt sitting in Herzogenaurach changed Adi's status to Mitläufer (follower), relieving him of most of his civil disabilities,[46] but still required some supervision.

American officers had commandeered the Dassler house for their residence in April 1945, so Adi had close contact with officials who gave him access to unneeded war material for production.

Until a source of leather became available, Adi made use of the rubber from fuel tanks and rafts and canvas from tents to make shoes.

[48] To partially fill the void left by the departure of the administrative personnel, Käthe and her sister Marianne Martz joined the firm and acted in a variety of capacities.

[52][53] In 1936, after Germany's humiliating quarter-final defeat by Norway at the Berlin Games, the Nazi sports authorities appointed him to coach the national football team.

[52] Adi soon became a regular part of the entourage of the national team, who sat beside Herberger and adjusted players' shoes mid-game.

Adidas's fame rose both in West Germany, where the win was considered a key post-war event in restoring German self-esteem[52][56] and abroad, where in the first televised World Cup final viewers were introduced to "the ultimate breakthrough.

The last of the family members who worked for Adidas was Frank Dassler (the grandson of Rudolf), head of the legal department since 2004, who resigned in January 2018.