Fighting within the family may have begun, but by the summer of 1936 there was so much new business coming their way that the problems were kept at bay for a time. The Olympics were coming to Germany and with the Games came opportunity. The brothers would find an extreme level of notoriety when they convinced a young, would-be athlete to wear their shoes in the Olympic Games. The Dassler’s set their sights on romancing American runner Jesse Owens well in advance and made a plan to get near him so they could offer him a pair of their custom, hand-made, running shoes.
Thanks to Hitler, the eyes of the world were closely focused on the Olympic Games that year and the brothers knew it was the perfect venue to showcase their product. Hitler had every intention of using the Olympics as his personal propaganda tool to show the world the grandeur and power of Nazi Germany. In an effort to add mystique and bravado to the games, the Nazis invented many of the ceremonial aspects of the Olympics that are still celebrated to this day. The first ever running of the torch and the grand opening ceremonies were both established by the Nazis. The eerie video and imagery from the 1936 games often shows crowds giving the Nazi salute with the Swastika banners looming in the background.
The Dasslers managed to work their way into the Olympic village in order to get close enough to Owens to convince the runner that their innovative shoes were the right ones to wear in the most important sports competition in the world. It turned out that Owens was indeed impressed with Adi’s custom-fitted spiked shoe. Spikes had been around since 1890, when Reebok founder Joseph William Foster had introduced them to the United Kingdom. The Dassler shoes were so impressive that Owens allowed the Dasslers to fit the shoes directly to him.
Jesse Owens went on to bring home four gold medals for America. The sweeping victory made Owens famous and crushed Hitler’s hopes of dominating the games with Aryan supremacy. Albert Speer, Hitler’s chief architect, once recalled the Nazi leader’s aggravation with Owens. Speer described Hitler as ‘highly annoyed by the series of triumphs by the marvellous coloured American runner, Jesse Owens. People whose antecedents came from the jungle were primitive, Hitler said with a shrug; their physiques were stronger than those of civilised whites and hence should be excluded from future games.’ This win was what would legitimise the footwear of the Dassler brothers and ensure their future. It was a bold move to provide Jesse Owens with footwear, to say the least, because it’s not the kind of thing that would sit well with the Fuhrer. The Dasslers’ business got a huge boost out of the experience, and Jesse Owens went on to be regarded as the sprinter of the century; something that the company would highlight in their advertising thereafter.
It wasn’t long after those games that Nazi Germany began expanding their territory and became engulfed in all-out war. Inevitably, the landscape of the German economy began to change as the Second World War raged on. The only way Hitler could continue his reign of terror on Europe was to completely convert the whole of Germany into an industrial war complex. The ‘total war’ economy began to emerge, as all manufacturing began to move away from luxury items, and focussed instead on producing the various elements of war. In December of 1943 Hitler officially ordered all civilian business operations to cease and converted them to military manufacturing. The Dassler brothers were no longer creating sports shoes, but instead began to make boots for Nazi soldiers and Panzerschreck bazookas in their Herzogenaurach factory. The weaponry that the Dasslers were producing for the German military were intended as anti-tank strategy, desperately needed on the front lines at the time.
Adi and Rudolf were a valuable asset to Germany’s manufacturing, but even so, the war eventually raged on so long and so hard that even they were called to duty. The brothers were both over the age of 40 at the time. Adi was allowed to return to the factory within a year, so that he could ensure production would continue smoothly. Rudolf wasn’t so lucky, he had to remain an active part of the German military regime. It is said that he went on to join the infamous Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, a claim that he would both give credence to, and refute, after the war.
Sibling Rivalry – Two Companies
The stories surrounding why the Dassler brothers had a parting of ways vary greatly and there are a lot of urban legends surrounding the circumstances. The only thing that we know for certain is that the two would part ways in 1948, never to reconcile again. The complications of being in business together, and differences in politics, would drive a wedge between the brothers.
Allied troops began to close in on Germany and eventually, in 1945, the war came to Herzogenaurach. Rudolf wasn’t there when Allied bombers targeted their town, but his family was. The sirens began to blare and the bombs were falling, destroying much of the town in the process. The Nazis had subjected England to the same fate, but the tide had begun to turn against them. The Nazis were about to fall and the Dassler family began to fracture and split under the stress and strain of war. The story goes that Adi and his family hid in the basement along with Rudolf’s wife and children. One particular time, Adi, Käthe, and their son were the last to find refuge in the shelter. Adi was pacing with a nervous anger, grumbling the phrase, ‘back again…the swine’. Friedl was convinced that Adi was referring to her and her children, rather than the Allied forces. It had to be stressful to be without Rudolf during those trying times, so it’s not surprising that her mood was heightened. This incident is said to have further soured the already tense relationship between the two families.
Due to their complementing personalities as brothers, Adi had always left a lot of the business up to Rudolf. When Adi married Käthe he found someone with a strong personality, similar to his beloved brother. Unfortunately, Rudolf and Käthe did not get along. Rudolf was often a tyrant to Käthe and the two would constantly experience conflict within the family business.
The Post-War Escape
It was during the aftermath of the fall of Nazi Germany that some of the risky decisions made by the Dassler brothers during the 1936 Olympics would come back to help them. The Second World War was coming to a close and Rudolf could finally return home to Herzogenaurach. The Allied troops were making their way through Germany and the surrounding areas, destroying all of the factories that had been producing instruments of war for the Nazis. The Americans set their sights on Herzogenaurach in April of 1945. The story goes that the troops rolled into town and it was Adi’s wife Käthe, whose ingenuity and quick thinking, saved the family business from certain destruction. The story goes that the Americans had pulled their tanks right up to the front of the Dassler Brothers factory and were preparing to destroy the building. Käthe Dassler was a woman with a gentle and kind face. She could also be quite charming and persuasive when the situation called for it and the tense moments that she encountered that fateful day outside of the factory were probably the most urgent of her life. Käthe was somehow able to charm the American soldiers into leaving their factory standing, convincing them that they only produced footwear and weren’t a part of the Nazi war machine, which couldn’t have been further from the truth.
The close call that the Dassler family experienced wasn’t the last of it. Germany was far from a peaceful place in the period following the Second World War. The Allies were busy interrogating anyone who could have been involved with the Nazi regime and were imprisoning citizens in droves. Eventually, the Americans came to interrogate Adi. Adi also charmed the military interrogators, being sure to punch home the fact that he had equipped American athletes, such as Jesse Owens, at the Olympics. This impressed the Americans and he was released; he was a free man.
It was no longer business as usual for the Dassler brothers, as each brother wanted to be in charge and felt that there was only room for one. They then had to decide who would run the company as it re-established itself in post-war Germany. Rudolf was also interviewed by the Americans about his denazification, but his experience wouldn’t go quite as smoothly as Adi. It is important to note that Adi served the Nazi regime in the military for one y
ear, while Rudolf had remained an active member of the Nazis until the end of the war. Rudolf’s past as a Nazi was an issue that he had to address to the interrogators and he was quickly in a fight for his factory and his future. He foolishly and boldly declared to his interrogators that he had worked for the Nazi Gestapo, but would later retract his statements. These impulsive actions showed a man frustrated by the devastating German loss in the war. He was clearly more emotionally invested in the war efforts than his brother.
Rudolf was subsequently sent to an American internment camp. It was while he was there that he began to become suspicious about how he had ended up there. An American told him that he had been denounced by someone close to him, and he suspected that Adi and/or his wife Käthe were the originators of a conspiracy. The thought of this enraged him and a lifelong grudge was born. It was a grudge that would change the Dassler family and the shoe industry forever. He had long distrusted his sister-in-law and it wasn’t a stretch for him to think that she was behind it all. Rudolf had always found her to be manipulative and desirous of too much control of the company. He had no proof of course, but that didn’t matter. He told the Americans that his internment had to be from false accusations and after a year in the camp, Rudolf was finally released and able to return home to Herzogenaurach and his family.
During the time that Rudolf was away, Adi went looking for new business opportunities. He began making baseball and basketball boots for the Americans, which allowed the Dassler Brothers to survive during those difficult post-war repair days. American sports were a major focus of the company for the first time. Adi and his wife had been running everything in Rudolf’s absence, while his wife Friedl had to sit by almost powerless, just trying all she could to protect her husband’s stake in the company. Adi managed to grow quite a lot as a craftsman and became an expert in modernising sports’ gear.
Rudolf returned to a very different landscape at home. The Dassler family villa was requisitioned for use by American soldiers, so the family was now living in the factory tower. The conditions there were close and cramped, which naturally lead to emotional clashes and fighting amongst the two families. The brothers would fight about everything from money to control. The breaking point came when Adi was interrogated for an unprecedented second time by the Americans. Coming so long after he had already been cleared, it was obvious that someone had tipped-off the authorities to issues with Adi’s denazification. Rudolf had tried to discredit his brother, badmouthing him to the authorities. The Americans would soon drop the case against Adi, seeing quickly that it was one disgruntled brother’s word against another.
It was impossible to run a business together after all the post-war drama so, in 1948, the Dassler brothers decided that they had to divide the company in half. The workforce was quickly notified and the separation began. Rudolf assembled all of the employees to tell them that the brothers were forming two different companies and that they would all need to choose which brother to follow, because once they left with one brother, they wouldn’t be welcome to work for the other. It is estimated that about two thirds of the workforce sided with Adi, which primarily consisted of the shoemakers, while most of the salesmen went with Rudolf.
The news shocked the workers and naturally rumours began to swirl about the real reason for the split. The most prevalent were rumours of an affair between Rudolf and his sister-in-law. The employees had a major decision to make: did they follow the salesman or the inventor? The brothers divided up the materials and machinery and set up competing shoe manufacturing businesses a mere 500m apart from each other. Adi started ‘Adidas’ and Rudolf founded ‘Puma’. The local population eventually got drawn into the conflict. The companies each had their own football club and the two teams were bitter rivals. Puma and Adidas employees wouldn’t even sit at the same table while drinking at their local pub. It’s hard to say whether the divide was due to extreme loyalty, or fear of being associated with the enemy and being fired.
The two brothers and their families never made-up and their bitter feud lasted until the time of their deaths. The two companies did issue a press release in 2009 to announce that Adidas and Puma would come together to participate in their first joint activity since the two companies opened back in 1948. They united to support the Peace One Day organisation for its annual non-violence day.
Chapter Five
Chanel: Hitler’s Seductive Spy
You know, they ask me questions. Just an example: ‘What do you wear to bed? A pajama top? The bottoms of the pajamas? A nightgown?’ So I said, ‘Chanel No. 5,’ because it’s the truth… And yet, I don’t want to say ‘nude.’ But it’s the truth!
— Marilyn Monroe
The name Coco Chanel is synonymous with fashion and haute couture. The enduring brand name has survived and thrived long after the passing of its namesake. Chanel has been regarded by some as the greatest fashion designer who ever lived, she is certainly one of the most infamous. Her name has endured, not only on clothing, but also jewellery, handbags and of course perfume. Her magnum opus, Chanel No. 5, is one of the most popular and best-selling fragrances of all-time. Coco was a powerful and ambitious businesswoman and a pioneer in many ways. She was also widely regarded as a vicious and horrible person, a Nazi sympathiser, and eventually even a Nazi spy.
Her Early Life
Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel had a troubled early life. She was born on 19 August 1883 in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. Chanel was, literally, born in the poorhouse, specifically the Sisters of Providence charity hospital. Her mother, Eugenie Jeanne Devolle, worked in the poorhouse as a laundrywoman, and her father, Albert Chanel, was a travelling street vendor. The level of poverty that Gabrielle was born into should not be underplayed, and in fact played a large part in shaping her character throughout her life.
The French commune into which Chanel was born was very similar to a municipality in America. Saumur was a self-governed and somewhat isolated town tucked snugly between the Loire and Thouet rivers and surrounded by vineyards. The commune is located near the famous Champagne wine region and was well known for its sparkling wines. The Saumur area has been settled for thousands of years in one form or another. The ornate skyline of the town includes the impressive Chateau de Saumur castle that was constructed as a stronghold to protect the region from the advancing Normans in the tenth century. The chateau was sacked and later rebuilt by King Henry II. The town later served as a state prison under the rule of Napoleon and is famous for being the base of operations for the French military riding academy, and for its wine. During the Second World War, the German forces advanced on the town in an attempt to head-off the newly landed Allied forces in Normandy; the town was badly damaged from bombings and the German Panzer tanks rumbling through the area. Saumur would be awarded the Croix de Guerre after the war in tribute to the resistance and patriotism demonstrated by the townspeople in the face of great danger.
Saumur may have been an ornate and beautiful area, but the reality of life was very different for those in the lower classes. The sweeping poor laws of the previous century had produced exploitative and harsh workhouses, also known as poorhouses, in an effort to provide accommodation and provisions for the poor. The workhouse wasn’t a pleasant place for a child to grow-up. If you weren’t a highborn individual, then you could look forward to a life of poverty and hard work. The able-bodied women were put to work doing a variety of domestic jobs like sewing, cleaning, cooking, gardening or laundry. Gabrielle’s mother worked as a laundrywoman for the charity hospital run by the Sisters of Providence.
Life in the poorhouse was a difficult one. The toilet facilities in the workhouses were used by well over one hundred inmates and would also often include a communal chamber pot. The men and women were kept separate to avoid indiscretions. The children would also often be housed separately, at least when it came to sleeping quarters, and were subject to bed sharing to save space. The pre-set diet in the workhouse consisted primarily of bread, gruel and cheese
. If you were lucky you might get a small serving of meat up to twice a week. The set restrictions could provide, for example, a meagre supper that included 5oz of bread and 1.5oz of cheese for an adult woman. The children in the workhouse were typically afforded the same diet as an adult woman, as long as they were over the age of 9; if you were under 9 it was up to the discretion of the staff. Meals were eaten in a large communal hall that often included the reading of biblical texts out loud to remind the inmates of the gratitude that they should be feeling for the charity that was being bestowed upon them.
Chanel would find herself in an orphanage by the time she was 12 years old. Her mother had died of bronchitis and her father had sent her and her two sisters away to live at the convent of Aubazine, where she would remain until the age of 18. Her time with the nuns in the convent would provide her with the groundwork that would come to build her entire empire – and change her fate forever – the ability to sew. This loss at a young age and lack of familial attachment would help mould her into an independent person who had little conflict putting her own needs first.
A Secret History of Brands Page 8
