page_title: Adolf Dassler
section_title: Adidas' breakthrough, 1948-1978
hierarchical_section_title: Adolf Dassler / Life / Adidas' breakthrough, 1948-1978
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: “Der moderne Fußballschuh“, erste Skulptur von sechs beim Berliner Walk of Ideas zur FIFA Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft Deutschland 2006, enthüllt am 10. März 2006 im Spreebogenpark (Park an der Spree und an dem Bundeskanzleramt (Berlin). Die Skulpturen ierinnern an den von Adi Daßler 1953 gefertigten sportgerätetechnisch revolutionären Schraubstollenschuh.) English: „The modern Football Shoe“, first sculpture (from six) of the Berliner Walk of Ideas on the occasion of 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. Unveiling: 10 March 2006 in Spreebogenpark (park nearby river Spree and Bundeskanzleramt (Berlin). It is to commemorate to a invention by Adi Daßler)
context_page_description: Adolf "Adi" Dassler was a German cobbler, inventor 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 sale 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.
context_section_description: Like the Dasslers, Sepp Herberger joined the Nazi Party in 1933. 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. Herberger began an association with the Dassler firm having been cultivated by Rudolf Dassler. After the breakup Herberger sided with the Puma firm, until Rudolf once again felt his authority challenged and insulted him. Herberger switched his allegiance to Adidas. The nature of the dispute is unknown; some thought it involved the payments owed if the German team wore Puma shoes.
  In many respects the fit was better with Adi, who was quiet, willing to learn the needs of football players and more innovative than his brother. Herberger's drive to make Germany a dominant force in international football predated the war. He learned of 18 year old Fritz Walter in 1938 and began grooming him for the team. When war came Herberger was able to keep Walter out of the army. After the war, Herberger was deemed a Mitlaufer and the post-war German authorities continued him as the coach of the national team. Adi soon became a regular part of the entourage of the national team, who sat beside Herberger and adjusted players' shoes mid-game.
  West Germany (established in May 1949) was not eligible for the 1950 World Cup (the first after the war), and so all preparations were made with a view toward the 1954 matches in Bern, Switzerland. By that time Adidas's football boots were considerably lighter than the ones made before the war, based on English designs. At the World Cup Adi had a secret weapon, which he revealed when West Germany made the finals against the overwhelmingly favored Hungarian team, which was undefeated since May 1950 and had defeated West Germany in the 8–3 in group play. Despite this defeat, West Germany made the knock-out rounds by twice defeating Turkey handily. The team defeated Yugoslavia and Austria to reach the final (a remarkable achievement), where the hope of many German fans was simply that the team "avoid another humiliating defeat" at the hands of the Hungarians. The day of the final began with light rain, which brightened the prospects of the West German team who called it "Fritz Walter-Wetter" because the team's best player excelled in muddy conditions. Dassler informed Herberger before the match of his latest innovation—"screw in studs." Unlike the traditional boot which had fixed leather spike studs, Dassler's shoe allowed spikes of various lengths to be affixed depending on the state of the pitch. As the playing field at Wankdorf Stadium drastically deteriorated, Herberger famously announced, "Adi, screw them on." The longer spikes improved the footing of West German players compared to the Hungarians whose mud-caked boots where also much heavier. The West Germans staged a come from behind upset, winning 3-2, in what became known as the "Miracle in Bern." Herberger publicly praised Dassler as a key contributor to the win, and Adidas's fame rose both in West Germany, where the win was considered a key post-war event in restoring German self-esteem and abroad, where in the first televised World Cup final viewers were introduced to "the ultimate breakthrough."
  Adolf Dassler died from heart failure in 1978.
caption: One of the six sculptures in the Walk of Ideas Berlin to celebrate the 2006 FIFA World Cup. This one celebrates "The Modern Football Boot" invented by Adolf Dassler.
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