10 Deeply Personal Historical Rivalries

There are a few explanations as to what caused the shoemaking brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler to become enemies.

It might have been the fact that their wives hated each other, or they debated who was the better Nazi, but the most widely acknowledged reason comes down to a simple misunderstanding.

During World War II Herzogenaurach (their home town) was being bombed by the Allies, Adi and his wife went to seek refuge in a bomb shelter where Rudi and his wife were already hiding. As Adi entered the shelter Rudi exclaimed: “the dirty bastards are back again.”

Adi believed he was referring to him and his wife and not, you know, the dudes that were bombing the hell out of them. Combine this with the fact that Rudi believed Adi and his wife had plotted to get him called up for service to the front and the brothers' relationship became irrevocably frayed.

In 1949 the brothers split the company (and the allegiances of Herzogenaurach) and formed two companies. Adi Dassler created Adidas (Adi-das – see what he did there?) and Rudi formed Ruda, which would later change its name to the more familiar Puma.

Herzogenaurach, where both Puma and Adidas are headquartered today, became known as 'the town of bent necks', since you would know which brother someone sided with by first checking their footwear.