Adidas and Puma are some of the world's most famous sports brands today. Many people know that these two multinational companies were founded by two brothers, but what is less known is that they were created as a result of a quarrel over Adolf 'Addie' Dassler и Rudolph 'Rudy' Dassler they haven't spoken in decades.

In the early twenties of the last century, the Dassler brothers founded a shoe manufacturing company called "Gebrueder Dassler Schuhfabrik" in the small town of Herzogenaurach in Germany.

Their business took off especially after they specialized in sports shoes, and they achieved worldwide success with their innovative sprint shoes in which most athletes competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, including the legendary American sprinter and long jumper, winner of four gold medals Jesse Owens.

It seems that the business success brought the first disagreements between the brothers Adi and Rudi, who had been together until then, and obviously their wives could not stand it either. Then the Second World War began. Although both were members of the Nazi party, the elder Rudolf was drafted into the Wehrmacht and spent some time at the front, while Adolf managed to avoid conscription because the authorities felt he was more needed as a manufacturer of quality footwear.

Needless to say, Rudolph wasn't particularly happy about putting his life on the line while his brother made shoes and made good money at the same time. It didn't help that Rudolph, after Adolf allegedly sued him, spent a year in prison after the war ended as part of Germany's denazification process. Rudolph in turn tried to indict his brother, but the charges against Adolf were dismissed.

Ultimately, the rational Bavarians decided to split the company: Rudolf got the more modern factory north of the river that separates Herzogenaurach, while Adolf kept the first factory and the family villa south of the river. During the negotiations to split the company, they allowed the employees to decide who they would work for. Considering that Rudolph handled sales and administration, most of the sales staff joined him, while most of the technical staff stayed with Adolfo.

After reaching an agreement, the two Dassler brothers did not speak a word to each other for the rest of their lives. Adolf named his new company, founded in 1948, "Adidas" after the first letters of his first and last name. Rudolph did the same, who initially called his company "Ruda", but a few months later renamed it "Puma Schuhfabrik".

The two small-town German sportswear and footwear companies began a fierce rivalry that continues to this day, and many believe that it was the brothers' strong determination to outdo the other that contributed to their global success.

Rudolf Dassler reportedly called his brother on his deathbed in 1974 to see them one last time. Adolf, who outlived him by four years, declined the invitation. The Dassler brothers are buried on opposite sides of a cemetery in Herzogenaurach, the Bavarian city that still houses the global headquarters of the two giant multinational sports equipment manufacturers.