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We live today in a world that is growing together, that changes ever faster, and that offers information in abundance. Puma is convinced that in such a world a brand's success depends on more than the quality of its products. Behind the products there must be a brand with its own unique personality. Only then will it distinguish itself from the competitor's "white mountains." Puma is determined to be one of those special brands that tackle things in a different way: unmistakable and convincing. In the midst of the white mountains Puma will be the "Blue Mountain." Puma will not be the biggest, but be visible in an unmistakable way, as the alternative sports brand. Key Dates: Rudolf Dassler's wife and two sons become part owners of the Puma Sportschuhfabriken Rudolf Dassler KG. Puma AG is among the world's leading manufacturers of athletic shoes, sportswear, and accessories. The company is perhaps best known for its soccer shoes and has sponsored such international soccer stars as Diego Armando Maradonna and Lothar Matthäus. The company also offers lines shoes and sports clothing, designed by Lamine Kouyate, Amy Garbers, and others. Since 1996 Puma has intensified its activities in the United States where it has a market share of eight percent. Puma owns 25 percent of American brand sports clothing maker Logo Athletic, which is licensed by American professional basketball and football leagues. The American entertainment group Monarchy/Regency owns 32 percent of Puma. In the small town of Herzogenaurach, not far from the German city of Nuremberg, two brothers laid the foundation for what would become the European capital of sportswear. Adolf and Rudolf Dassler were born into a poor family at the turn of the 19th century. Their father, Christoph Dassler, was a worker at a shoe factory, while their mother, Pauline Dassler, ran a small laundry business. At age 15 Rudolf Dassler started working at the same shoe factory as his father and soon showed the qualities of an entrepreneur. He was energetic, persistent, and ambitious, and he saved his hard-earned money instead of spending it right away. However, it was not until after World War I that he had a opportunity to prove himself in business. After the war, Rudolf Dassler took his first positions in business management, first at a porcelain factory and later in a leather wholesale business in Nuremberg. In the early 1920s Rudolf Dassler decided to go back to Herzogenaurach and team up with his brother Adolf in a business partnership. Their company, which was incorporated as the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik in 1924, produced slippers and outdoor shoes. Rudolf Dassler ran the business, while Adolf took care of the technical operations and production. Soon they realized that there was not a particularly promising market for their shoes and so switched their focus to the manufacture of track shoes and football boots, a market that was just getting started at that time. With a great deal of luck the company acquired its first major client, the sports club in Herzogenaurach, which ordered no fewer than 10,000 pairs of athletic shoes in 1925. Thus, despite the ongoing worldwide economic depression in the late 1920s, the Dassler company took off and gained a reputation among athletes and sporting goods companies. Half of all athletes at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928 wore Dassler shoes. In 1936, African-American track star Jesse Owens brought the company into the public eye when he won four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin wearing Dassler shoes. Three years later World War II broke out. Although the brothers could have given up for a number of reasons during the war, it was not this world-shattering event that led to the Dassler company's sudden end, but a homemade war of a different kind. In 1948, the two brothers had a serious falling-out, and they stopped talking to each other. Their company was split into two new companies: Adolf Dassler formed his own business na