Die Dasslers - Pioniere, Brüder und Rivalen (2016)

In Part 1, Adi and Rudi Dassler persuade their father to transform the family shoemaking business and produce sports shoes. Despite their differences, the brothers complement each other at work: while Rudi drives expansion forward, even taking out risky loans, his perfectionist brother develops ever-better models. Conflict erupts when Adi decides to undertake another apprenticeship, and Rudi feels left alone to run the business during the economic crisis. Rudi’s wife, Friedl, and Adi’s wife, Käthe, stand loyally by their husbands, but this too sometimes causes discord. At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, the Dasslers hope at last to see athletes win wearing their shoes. Their secret operation to equip the Black American athlete and multiple gold medalist Jesse Owens affronts Nazi officials. When the Second World War breaks out in 1939, Rudi is called up to the front, and the business faces a severe test. Mistrust between the brothers begins to grow. In Part 2, Rudi returns from the war, and the conflicts between the Dassler brothers intensify. They decide to split up their company. Adidas and Puma are born. A fierce rivalry over athletes, medals, and market share erupts. When Sepp Herberger approaches them both seeking payment for his services, Adi makes a deal with him, since Rudi had fallen out with the shrewd soccer coach. The “Miracle of Bern” turns Adidas into the winning brand and makes the “nation’s shoemaker” a legend. The rivalry between the companies grows ever more bitter, and the fathers’ ambition is passed on to their two sons, Horst and Armin. Both sons take the conflict to another level. From then on, undeclared money, corruption, and manipulation of sports organizations become part of doing business for both sides. The two founding fathers have set something in motion that they can no longer stop. Rudi’s advancing cancer may be the brothers’ last chance to finally reconcile.