82-602: Azteca Mexico ( Spanish pronunciation: [asˈteka ˈmexiko] ) by Adidas was the official match ball of 1986 FIFA World Cup held in Mexico. It was also the first fully synthetic FIFA World Cup ball . The elaborately decorated design was inspired by the hosting nation’s native Aztec architecture and murals. This association football article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Adidas Adidas AG ( German pronunciation: [ˈʔadiˌdas] ; stylized in all lowercase since 1949)
164-457: A Waffen-SS division made up of Hitler Youth members was first proposed by Axmann to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler in early 1943. The plan for a combat division made up of Hitler Youth members born in 1926 was passed on to Hitler for his approval. Hitler approved the plan in February and Gottlob Berger was tasked with recruiting. Fritz Witt of SS Division Leibstandarte (LSSAH)
246-510: A West Berlin court fined Axman 35,000 marks (approximately £ 3,000, or US$ 8,300), about half the value of his property in Berlin. The court found him guilty of indoctrinating German youth with National Socialism until the end of the war, but concluded that he was not guilty of war crimes. German children born in the 1920s and 1930s became adults during the Cold War years. Since membership
328-655: A Lutheran youth organisation of 600,000 members, was integrated on 18 February 1934. In December 1936, a law declared the Hitler Youth to be the only legally permitted youth organisation in Germany, and stated that "all of the German youth in the Reich is organised within the Hitler Youth". By December 1936, Hitler Youth membership had reached over five million. That same month, membership became mandatory for Aryans under
410-616: A familiar concept to German society in the Weimar Republic . Numerous youth movements existed across Germany prior to and especially after World War I . They were created for various purposes. Some were religious and others were ideological, but the more prominent ones were formed for political reasons, like the Young Conservatives and the Young Protestants. Once Hitler came onto the revolutionary scene,
492-490: A fierce and bitter business rivalry after the split. The town of Herzogenaurach was divided on the issue, leading to the nickname "the town of bent necks"—people looked down to see which shoes strangers wore. Even the town's two football clubs were divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club was supported by Adidas, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolf's footwear. When handymen were called to Rudolf's home, they would deliberately wear Adidas shoes. Rudolf would tell them to go to
574-842: A member of the Hitler Youth. Despite rare instances of disaffection, overall, the Hitler Youth constituted the single most successful of all the mass movements in the Third Reich. The Hitler Youth was organised into corps under adult leaders, and the general membership of the HJ consisted of boys aged 14 to 18. The Hitler Youth was organised into local cells on a community level. Such cells had weekly meetings at which various Nazi doctrines were taught by adult leaders. Regional leaders typically organised rallies and field exercises in which several dozen Hitler Youth cells would participate. The largest gathering usually took place annually at Nuremberg , where members from all over Germany would converge for
656-520: A previous model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. In 1936, Dassler persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his hand made spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics . Following Owens' four gold medals, the name and reputation of Dassler shoes became known to the world's sportsmen and their trainers. Business was successful and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes every year before World War II . Both Dassler brothers joined
738-408: A previous model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. Dassler persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his handmade spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics . In 1949, following a breakdown in the relationship between the brothers, Adolf created Adidas and Rudolf established Puma , which became Adidas's business rival. The three stripes are Adidas's identity mark, having been used on
820-547: A share purchase agreement. The total purchase price was US$ 25 million in cash at closing. By the end of 2012, Adidas was reporting their highest revenues ever and Chief Executive Herbert Hainer expressed optimism for the year ahead. Adidas now has global corporate headquarters in Herzogenaurach , Germany and many other business locations around the world such as London , Portland , Toronto , Tokyo , Australia , Taiwan and Spain . In January 2015, Adidas launched
902-475: A shoe sales representative to Germany and met Adolf Dassler's descendants (Amelia Randall Dassler and Bella Beck Dassler) and was sent back with a few items to promote the company there. In 1992, unable to pay the loan interest, Tapie mandated the Crédit Lyonnais bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently converted the outstanding debt owed into equity of the enterprise, which was unusual as per
SECTION 10
#1732801302589984-589: A simple source of amusement and recreation, it became a means to an end, a weapon in the hands of the All Highest. It became nationalistic. The ideal of sport for sport's sake became an object of ridicule. The real preoccupation of those who directed athletics became the mass production of cannon fodder . By 1937, there was a HJ rifle school established, partially at the behest of General Erwin Rommel , who toured HJ meetings and lectured on "German soldiering", all
1066-673: A team Tapie had owned until 1993. Tapie filed for personal bankruptcy in 1994. He was the object of several lawsuits, notably related to match fixing at the football club. During 1997, he served 6 months of an 18-month prison sentence in La Santé prison in Paris. In February 2000, Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Louis-Dreyfus for a much higher amount of money than Tapie owed, 4.485 billion (€683.514 million) francs rather than 2.85 billion (€434.479 million). In 1994, combined with FIFA Youth Group, SOS Children's Villages became
1148-411: A two-stripe motif similar to Adidas's three stripes . The court ruled that despite the simplicity of the mark, Fitness World ' s use was infringing because the public could establish a link between that use and Adidas's mark. In September 2004, English fashion designer Stella McCartney launched a joint-venture line with Adidas, establishing a long-term partnership with the corporation. This line
1230-537: Is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach , Bavaria , Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe , and the second largest in the world, after Nike . It is the holding company for the Adidas Group , which also owns an 8.33% stake of the football club Bayern Munich , and Runtastic , an Austrian fitness technology company. Adidas's revenue for 2018
1312-455: Is a sports performance collection for women called "Adidas by Stella McCartney". On 3 May 2005, Adidas informed the public that they had sold their partner company Salomon Group for €485 million to Amer Sports of Finland. In August 2005, Adidas declared its intention to buy Reebok for $ 3.8 billion (US$ ). This takeover was completed with partnership in January 2006 and meant that
1394-654: The Gesetz über die Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth Law). This legal obligation was reaffirmed in March 1939 with the Jugenddienstpflicht (Youth Service Duty), which conscripted all German youths into the Hitler Youth—even if the parents objected. Parents who refused to allow their children to join were subject to investigation by the authorities. From then on, the vast majority of Germany's teenagers belonged to
1476-673: The Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung was officially renamed Hitler Jugend Bund der deutschen Arbeiterjugend (Hitler Youth League of German Worker Youth). This event took place a year after the Nazi Party was reorganised. The architect of the re-organisation was Kurt Gruber , a law student from Plauen in Saxony. After a short power struggle with a rival organisation— Gerhard Roßbach 's Schilljugend —Gruber prevailed and his "Greater German Youth Movement" became
1558-513: The Sturmjugend (Storm Youth), Junge Front (Young Front), Deutschen Jugendnachrichten (News for German Youth), and Wille und Macht (Will and Power). Other publications included Das Junge Deutschland (Young Germany), Das deutsche Mädel (a paper for girls in the BdM), and Junge Dorfgemeinschaft (Young Villager). The members of the Hitler Youth were viewed as ensuring
1640-559: The 1952 Summer Olympics , 1500 metres runner Josy Barthel of Luxembourg won Puma's first Olympic gold in Helsinki , Finland. At the 1960 Summer Olympics , Puma paid German sprinter Armin Hary to wear Pumas in the 100 meter sprint final. Hary had worn Adidas before and asked Adolf for payment, but Adidas rejected this request. The German won gold in Pumas, but then laced up Adidas for
1722-585: The 2014 World Cup was the first World Cup ball named by the fans. In 2022, for the 14th time in a row, Adidas created the 2022 World Cup ball, Al Rihla. Adidas is one of the official sponsors of the UEFA Champions League , and the Adidas Finale is the competition's official match ball. Along with the aforementioned Adidas Predator boot, Adidas manufactures the adiPure range of football boots. Adidas named an official match ball of
SECTION 20
#17328013025891804-732: The Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany , the Hitler Youth is an "unconstitutional organisation" and the distribution or public use of its symbols, except for educational or research purposes, is illegal. In 1922, the Munich-based Nazi Party established its official youth organisation called Jugendbund der NSDAP . It was announced on 8 March 1922 in the Völkischer Beobachter , and its inaugural meeting took place on 13 May
1886-552: The German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth ( Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitler Jugend or "DJ", also "DJV") for younger boys aged 10 to 14. With the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, the organisation de facto ceased to exist. On 10 October 1945, the Hitler Youth and its subordinate units were outlawed by the Allied Control Council along with other Nazi Party organisations. Under Section 86 of
1968-501: The League of German Girls (BDM). On 30 October 1931, the HJ officially became part of the SA through a decree issue by Hitler, under the notional command of Ernst Röhm . In 1923, the youth organisation of the Nazi Party had a little over 1,200 members. In 1925, when the Nazi Party was refounded, the membership grew to over 5,000. Five years later, national membership stood at 26,000. By
2050-479: The New York Yankees . Adidas's Superstar and Pro Model shoes, affectionately known as "shelltoes" for their stylized hard rubber toe box, were fueled by, among others, coaches such as UCLA 's John Wooden . Adidas drew about even with Converse in basketball by the mid-1970s before both started to fall behind then-upstart Nike in the early 1980s. Subsequently, Adidas Superstar became very popular in
2132-739: The UEFA Euro 2016 tournament the Adidas Beau Jeu which translates to " The Beautiful Game " in English. Adidas provides clothing and equipment for all teams in Major League Soccer . Adidas has also provided baseball equipment and sponsors numerous players of Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Adidas Baseball hardgoods are licensed to Dick's Sporting Goods. From 1997 to 2008, Adidas sponsored
2214-596: The Wehrmacht (Armed Forces). The corps offered specialised foundational training for each of the specific arms for which the member was ultimately destined. The Marine Hitler Youth (Marine-HJ), for example, served as an auxiliary to the Kriegsmarine . Another branch of the Hitler Youth was the Deutsche Arbeiter Jugend – HJ (German Worker Youth – HY). This organisation within the Hitler Youth
2296-433: The denazification process. Some Hitler Youth members were suspected of war crimes but, because they were children, no serious efforts were made to prosecute these claims. While the Hitler Youth was never declared a criminal organisation , its adult leadership was considered tainted for corrupting the minds of young Germans. Many adult leaders of the Hitler Youth were put on trial by Allied authorities, and Baldur von Schirach
2378-553: The " Teamgeist ", were particularly noteworthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer range goals. Goalkeepers were generally believed to be less comfortable with the design of the ball, claiming it was prone to move significantly and unpredictably in flight. Adidas introduced the Jabulani for the 2010 World Cup . The ball was designed and developed by Loughborough University in conjunction with Bayern München . The Adidas Brazuca for
2460-677: The 1980s hip hop streetwear scene alongside Adidas's stripe-sided polyester suits. From 2006 to 2017, Adidas was the uniform supplier of all the 30 teams in the National Basketball Association , replacing the Reebok brand after Adidas's acquisition of Reebok. Adidas was replaced by Nike as the official uniform supplier of the league after the 2016–17 season. Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( German : Hitlerjugend [ˈhɪtlɐˌjuːɡn̩t] , often abbreviated as HJ , [haːˈjɔt] )
2542-538: The Dassler brothers' shoes. The brothers split up in 1947 after relations between them had broken down, with Adolf forming a company registered as Adidas AG, from Adi Dassler , on 18 August 1949, and Rudolf forming a new firm that he called Ruda – from Rudolf Dassler , later rebranded Puma . Urban myths have popularised two false backronyms for the name "Adidas": All Day I Dream About Sports and All Day I Dream About Sex . Adidas and Puma SE entered into
Adidas Azteca - Misplaced Pages Continue
2624-419: The Hitler Youth combat formations, in the confusion this order was never carried out. The remnants of the youth brigade took heavy casualties from the advancing Russian forces. Only two survived. In 1945, there were various incidents of Hitler Youth members shooting prisoners, participating in executions, and committing other wartime atrocities. The Hitler Youth was disbanded by Allied authorities as part of
2706-555: The Hitler Youth were designed to undermine the values of traditional structures of German society. Their training also aimed to remove social and intellectual distinctions between classes, to be replaced and dominated by the political goals of Hitler's totalitarian dictatorship. Sacrifice for the Nazi cause was instilled into their training. As historian Richard Evans observes, "The songs they sang were Nazi songs. The books they read were Nazi books." Former Hitler Youth Franz Jagemann said that
2788-513: The Hitler Youth. By 1940, it had eight million members. Even before membership was made mandatory in 1939, German youth faced strong pressure to join. Students who held out were frequently assigned essays with titles such as "Why am I not in the Hitler Youth?" They were also the subject of frequent taunts from teachers and fellow students, and could even be refused their diploma —which made it impossible to be admitted to university. A number of employers refused to offer apprenticeships to anyone who
2870-623: The Nazi Party ( NSDAP ) in May 1933 and became members of the National Socialist Motor Corps . Adolf took the rank of Sportwart in the Hitler Youth from 1935 until the end of the war. During the war, the company was running the last sport shoe factory in Germany and predominantly supplied the Wehrmacht with shoes. In 1943, their shoe production was forced to cease operations and the company's facilities and workforce
2952-631: The Nazi Party's official youth organisation. In July 1926, it was renamed Hitler-Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth"). The name Hitler-Jugend was taken up on the suggestion of Hans Severus Ziegler . By 1930, the Hitlerjugend HJ had enlisted over 25,000 boys aged 14 and upward. They also set up a junior branch, the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ), for boys aged 10 to 14. Girls from 10 to 18 were given their own parallel organisation,
3034-446: The Reich postal service, the Reich railway services , and other government offices; members of the HJ also aided the army and served with anti-aircraft defence crews. In 1942 Hitler decreed the establishment of "Hitler Youth defence training camps", led by Wehrmacht officers. Nazi leaders began turning the Hitler Youth into a military reserve to replace manpower which had been depleted due to tremendous military losses. The idea for
3116-535: The Young Folk they go on to the Hitler Youth, where we have them for another four years...And even if they are still not complete National Socialists, they go to Labor Service and are smoothed out there for another six, seven months...And whatever class consciousness or social status might still be left...the Wehrmacht will take care of that. Over time, a number of boys dropped out due to the regimented nature of
3198-467: The accolade of the best selling boot of all time. The soft-ground equivalent was named World Cup and it too remains on the market. Since 1970, FIFA , the world governing body of football, has commissioned specially designed footballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments. The Adidas Telstar was the first ball commissioned for the World Cup in 1970. The balls supplied for the 2006 World Cup ,
3280-534: The annual Nazi Party rally. Since the HJ and BDM were considered fully Aryan organizations by Nazi officials, premarital sex was encouraged in their ranks. This did not conform to the general beliefs of the Nazi Party, which viewed premarital sex as undesirable and a potential public health hazard. The Hitler Youth maintained training academies comparable to preparatory schools, which were designed to nurture future Nazi Party leaders. The Hitler Youth also maintained several corps designed to develop future officers for
3362-437: The appropriation of sports by contemporary dictatorial regimes such as Nazi Germany, commented that: The dictators have discovered sport. This was inevitable. Middle-aged and older persons have their roots in the ground, have affiliations with former régimes. The hope of the dictators, therefore, was to win over youth to the new conception of life, the new system. They found that they could best succeed through sport. From being
Adidas Azteca - Misplaced Pages Continue
3444-531: The associated equipment. Adidas remains a major company in the global supply of team kits for international association football teams and clubs. Adidas makes referee kits that are used in international competition and by many countries and leagues in the world. The company has been an innovator in the area of footwear for the sport, with notable examples including the 1979 release of the Copa Mundial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches. It holds
3526-478: The basement and pick out a pair of free Pumas. The two brothers never reconciled and although they are now buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced as far apart as possible. In 1948, the first football match after World War II , several members of the West Germany national football team wore Puma boots, including the scorer of West Germany's first post-war goal, Herbert Burdenski . Four years later, at
3608-493: The business, which became "Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory" ( Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik ). The electricity supply in Herzogenaurach was unreliable, so the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment. Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes (spikes) for multiple athletic events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from
3690-593: The company had business sales closer to those of Nike in North America. The acquisition of Reebok also allowed Adidas to compete with Nike worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the world. In 2005, Adidas introduced the Adidas 1 , the first ever production shoe to use a microprocessor . Dubbed by the company "The World's First Intelligent Shoe", it features a microprocessor capable of performing 5 million calculations per second that automatically adjusts
3772-399: The company was bought in 1990 by French industrialist Bernard Tapie , for ₣ 1.6 billion (now €243.9 million), which Tapie borrowed. Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing bankrupt companies, an expertise on which he built his fortune. Tapie decided to move production offshore to Asia. He also hired Madonna for promotion. He sent, from Christchurch , New Zealand,
3854-518: The company's clothing and shoe designs as a marketing aid. The branding, which Adidas bought in 1952 from Finnish sports company Karhu Sports for the equivalent of €1,600 and two bottles of whiskey, became so successful that Dassler described Adidas as "The three stripes company". The company was founded by Adolf "Adi" Dassler who made sports shoes in his mother's scullery or laundry room in Herzogenaurach , Germany after his return from World War I . In July 1924, his older brother Rudolf joined
3936-457: The end of 1932, it was at 107,956. In April 1932, Chancellor Heinrich Brüning banned the Hitler Youth movement in an attempt to stop widespread political violence. However, in June, Brüning's successor as Chancellor, Franz von Papen , lifted the ban as a way of appeasing Hitler, the rapidly ascending political star. A further significant expansion drive started in 1933, after Baldur von Schirach
4018-499: The entire Hitler Youth leadership must have "defence training". On 1 May 1940, Artur Axmann was appointed deputy to Schirach, whom he succeeded as Reichsjugendführer of the Hitler Youth on 8 August 1940. Axmann began to reform the group into an auxiliary force which could perform war duties. The Hitler Youth became active in German fire brigades and assisted with recovery efforts to German cities affected by Allied bombing . The Hitler Youth also assisted in such organisations as
4100-401: The entire organization. The rank of Reichsjugendführer was only held by two people during its existence, first by Baldur von Schirach and later by Artur Axmann. Members' summer uniform consisted of black shorts and a tan shirt with pockets, worn with a rolled black neckerchief secured with a woggle , usually tucked under the collar. Headgear originally consisted of a beret , but this
4182-553: The equivalent of €1600. The Trefoil logo was designed in 1971 and launched in 1972, just in time for the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich . This logo lasted until 1997, when the company introduced the "three bars" logo (that had been designed by then Creative Director Peter Moore), initially used on the Equipment range of products. After a period of trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler in 1987,
SECTION 50
#17328013025894264-580: The financial year ending December 31): Adidas manufactures a range of clothing items, varying from men's and women's t-shirts , jackets , hoodies , pants and leggings . The first Adidas item of apparel was the Franz Beckenbauer tracksuit created in 1967. Adidas AG is the largest manufacturer of sports bras in Europe, and the second largest manufacturer in the world. One of the main focuses of Adidas has always been football kits , and
4346-425: The footwear industry's first reservation mobile app. The Adidas Confirmed app allows consumers to get access to and reserve the brand's limited edition sneakers by using geo targeting technology. On 24 March 2015, Adidas and McDonald's unveiled the 2015 McDonald's All-American uniforms. For the third year in a row, players will be wearing short-sleeved jerseys, made with the same lightweight and breathable material as
4428-605: The future of Nazi Germany and they were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology, including racism. The boys were indoctrinated with the myths of Aryan racial superiority and to view Jews and Slavs as subhumans. Members were taught to associate state-identified enemies such as Jews with Germany's previous defeat in the First World War and societal decline. The Hitler Youth were used to break up church youth groups, spy on religious classes and Bible studies, and interfere with church attendance. Education and training programs for
4510-623: The main beneficiary. In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group who specialized in ski wear, and its official corporate name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG. With this acquisition Adidas also acquired the TaylorMade golf company and Maxfli , which allowed them to compete with Nike Golf. In 1998, Adidas sued the NCAA over their rules limiting the size and number of commercial logos on team uniforms and team clothing. Adidas withdrew
4592-456: The medals ceremony, to the shock of the two Dassler brothers. Hary hoped to cash in from both, but Adi was so enraged he banned the Olympic champion. The "Pelé Pact" was the most notable event in the Dassler brothers feud, when both owners of Adidas and Puma agreed not to sign a sponsorship deal with Pelé for the 1970 FIFA World Cup , feeling that a bidding war for the most famous athlete in
4674-510: The notion "Germany must live" even if the members of the HJ had to die, was "hammered" into them. The Hitler Youth appropriated many of the activities of the Boy Scout movement (which was banned in 1935), including camping and hiking. However, over time it changed in content and intention. For example, many activities closely resembled military training, with weapons familiarization, assault course circuits, and basic fighting tactics. The aim
4756-424: The official NBA clothing provider. The company has been making NBA , NBDL , and WNBA jerseys and products as well as team-coloured versions of the "Superstar" basketball shoe. This deal (worth over $ 400 million) took over the previous Reebok deal that had been put in place in 2001 for 10 years. In November 2011, Adidas announced that it would acquire outdoor action sport performance brand Five Ten through
4838-635: The ones used in the NBA. In August 2015, Adidas acquired fitness technology firm Runtastic for approximately $ 240 million. In May 2017, Adidas sold TaylorMade golf company (including Ashworth ) to KPS Capital Partners for $ 425 million. In March 2022, Adidas sold Reebok to the Authentic Brands Group , for ca. $ 2.5 billion. In August 2022, the company announced that CEO Kasper Rørsted would step down in 2023. Bjørn Gulden became CEO in January 2023. The key trends for Adidas are (as at
4920-403: The organization. Some of these boys later rejoined after they learned that they could not get a job or enter university without being a member. There were a few members of the Hitler Youth who privately disagreed with Nazi ideologies. For instance, Hans Scholl —the brother of Sophie Scholl and one of the leading figures of the anti-Nazi resistance movement Weiße Rose ( White Rose )—was also
5002-466: The prevalent French banking practice. The state-owned bank had tried to get Tapie out of dire financial straits as a personal favour to Tapie, it is reported, because Tapie was Minister of Urban Affairs ( ministre de la Ville ) in the French government at the time. Robert Louis-Dreyfus , a friend of Tapie, became the new CEO of the company in 1994. He was also the president of Olympique de Marseille ,
SECTION 60
#17328013025895084-580: The realization that "they had worked and slaved for a criminal cause", which they carried for a lifetime. Some of them recalled a "loss of freedom" and claimed that their time in the HJ "had robbed them of a normal childhood." Historian Michael Kater relates how many who once served in the HJ were silent until older age when they became grandparents. While they were eventually able to look back at their place in "a dictatorship which oppressed, maimed, and killed millions", he maintains that an honest appraisal should lead them to conclude that their past contributions to
5166-677: The regime had "damaged their own souls." Once Nazi Germany was defeated by the Allied Powers, the Hitler Youth—like all NSDAP organisations—was officially abolished by the Allied Control Council on 10 October 1945 and later banned by the German Criminal Code. Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader) was the highest rank of the Hitler Youth and was held by the Nazi Party official in command of
5248-570: The same year. Another youth group was established in 1922 as the Jungsturm Adolf Hitler . Based in Munich , Bavaria , it served to train and recruit future members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the main paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party at that time. One reason the Hitler Youth (HJ) so easily developed was that regimented organisations, often focused on politics, for young people and particularly adolescent boys were
5330-470: The shoe's level of cushioning to suit its environment. The shoe requires a small, user-replaceable battery that lasts for approximately 100 hours of running. On 25 November 2005, Adidas released a new version of the Adidas 1 with an increased range of cushioning, allowing the shoe to become softer or firmer, and a new motor with 153 percent more torque. In April 2006, Adidas announced an 11-year deal to become
5412-414: The suit, and the two groups established guidelines as to what three-stripe designs would be considered uses of the Adidas trademark. As CEO of Adidas, Louis-Dreyfus quadrupled revenue to €5.84 billion ($ 7.5 billion) from 1993 through 2000. In 2000, he announced he would resign the following year, due to illness. In 2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in a British court challenging Fitness World Trading's use of
5494-567: The transition from seemingly innocuous youth movements to political entities focused on Hitler was swift. Following the abortive Beer Hall Putsch (in November 1923), Nazi youth groups ostensibly disbanded, but many elements simply went underground, operating clandestinely in small units under assumed names. In April 1924, the Jugendbund der NSDAP was renamed Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung (Greater German Youth Movement). On 4 July 1926,
5576-592: The west, members of the Hitlerjugend were recruited at ever younger ages . By 1945, the Volkssturm was commonly drafting 12-year-old Hitler Youth members into its ranks. During the Battle of Berlin , Axmann's Hitler Youth formed a major part of the last line of German defence, and they were reportedly among the fiercest fighters. Although the city commander, General Helmuth Weidling , ordered Axmann to disband
5658-504: The while he pressured Schirach to turn the HJ into a "junior army". During 1938, some 1.5 million HJ members were trained to shoot rifles. Starting in early 1939, the OKW began supervising HJ shooting activities and military field exercises. Upwards of 51,500 boys had earned their HJ Marksmanship Medal before the year's end. On 15 August 1939, a fortnight before the beginning of World War II, Schirach agreed with General Wilhelm Keitel that
5740-458: The world would become too expensive, only for Puma to break the pact and sign him. Many business experts credit the brothers' rivalry and competition for transforming sports apparel into a multi-billion pound industry. In 1952, following the 1952 Summer Olympics , Adidas acquired its signature 3-stripe logo from the Finnish athletic footwear brand Karhu Sports , for two bottles of whiskey and
5822-440: Was a training ground for future labour leaders and technicians. Its symbol was a rising sun with a swastika. A program entitled Landjahr Lager (Country Service Camp) was designed to teach specifically chosen girls of the BDM high moral character standards within a rural educational setting. The Hitler Youth had a number of monthly and weekly publications: among them were the Hitler-Jugend-Zeitung (Hitler Youth Newspaper),
5904-500: Was appointed by Hitler as the first Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader). All youth organizations were brought under Schirach's control. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the membership of Hitler Youth organisations increased dramatically to 2,300,000 members by the end of that year. Much of this increase came from the forcible takeover of other youth organisations. The sizeable Evangelische Jugend (Evangelical Youth),
5986-579: Was appointed divisional commander. In 1944, the 12th SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend was deployed during the Battle of Normandy against the British and Canadian forces to the north of Caen . Over 20,000 German youths participated in the attempt to repulse the D-Day invasion; while they knocked out 28 Canadian tanks during their first effort, they ultimately lost 3,000 lives before the Normandy assault
6068-482: Was complete. During the following months, the division earned a reputation for ferocity and fanaticism. When Witt was killed by Allied naval gunfire, SS- Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer assumed command and became the divisional commander at age 33. As German casualties escalated with the combination of Operation Bagration and the Lvov-Sandomierz Operation in the east, and Operation Cobra in
6150-453: Was compulsory after 1936, it was neither surprising nor uncommon that many senior leaders of both West and East Germany had been members of the Hitler Youth. Little effort was made to blacklist political figures who had been members, since many had little choice in the matter. These German post-war leaders were nonetheless once part of an important institutional element of Nazi Germany. Historian Gerhard Rempel opined that Nazi Germany itself
6232-406: Was impossible to conceive without the Hitler Youth, as their members constituted the "social, political, and military resiliency of the Third Reich" and were part of "the incubator that maintained the political system by replenishing the ranks of the dominant party and preventing the growth of mass opposition." Rempel also reports that a large percentage of the boys who served in the HJ slowly came to
6314-406: Was listed at €21.915 billion. The company was started by Adolf Dassler in his mother's house. He was joined by his elder brother Rudolf in 1924 under the name Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik ("Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory"). Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes ( spikes ) for multiple athletic events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from
6396-406: Was not a member of the Hitler Youth. By 1936, the Hitler Youth had a monopoly on all youth sports facilities in Germany, effectively locking out non-members. Hitler spoke of the regime's ability to make Nazis out of these German youth, exclaiming in 1938: These boys and girls enter our organizations with their ten years of age, and often for the first time get a little fresh air; after four years of
6478-404: Was sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, he was convicted of crimes against humanity for his actions as Gauleiter of Vienna, not for his leadership of the Hitler Youth, because Artur Axmann had been serving as the functioning leader of the Hitler Youth from 1940 onward. Axmann only received a 39-month prison sentence in May 1949, but he was not found guilty of war crimes. Later, in 1958,
6560-601: Was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany . Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name Hitler-Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was the sole official boys' youth organisation in Germany and it was partially a paramilitary organisation. It was composed of the Hitler Youth proper for male youths aged 14 to 18, and
6642-524: Was to turn the HJ into motivated soldiers. There was greater emphasis on physical ability and military training than on academic study. More than just a way to keep the German nation healthy, sports became a means of indoctrinating and training its youth for combat; this was in keeping with tenets outlined in Hitler's notorious work, Mein Kampf . In a 1936 edition of Foreign Affairs, an article discussing
6724-547: Was used to manufacture anti-tank weapons . From 1942 to 1945, at least nine forced labourers were working at both sites of the company. The Dassler factory, used for production of anti-tank weapons during World War II, was nearly destroyed in 1945 by US forces. It was spared when Adolf Dassler's wife convinced the American soldiers that the company and its employees were only interested in manufacturing sports shoes. American occupying forces subsequently became major buyers of
#588411