ZoneIchwone: Herzogenaurach - the motherland of sport shoes

What this ball is doing here?
/photo from 2015

If you are a big fans of sport (as we are), and you know brand like ADIDAS and PUMA you have to read this post! Then, the answer for question "What this ball is doing here?" will be easy to answer :)

Enjoy!

Between two towers

Herzogenaurach is a small, old town with ca. 20 000 inhabitants. It is located near Furth, Erlangen and Nurnberg, over a river Aurach in Bavaria, Germany. Location in vicinity of such well known cities makes it for most of the people unnoticeable. However, this is the place where lot of people want to live and work. The old town can be walked through in 5 minutes, but the architecture of the town makes this walk very pleasant. While entering the town from the East side you will pass by the overgrowth with ivy 13th century Fehn Tower (below on the right), which first marks the boundary of medieval inner city and second was used as a prison. From the other side the town is "protected" by Lookout Tower, built in 14th century (below on the left).

The Fehn Tower has 28 meters height, and you can visit it with a tour guide.

The Lookout Tower was the part of the inner city wall and on the main wall of the Lookout Tower you can find an old coat of arms of Herzogenaurach.
Between two towers (which are separated by around 200 meters), you find the most beautiful buildings of Herzogenaurach.

An old coat of arms of Herzogenaurach on Lookout Tower

A newest version of coat of arms of Herzogenaurach on Fehn Tower

All buildings in this town comes from middle ages, which makes the climate of the town very nice. Some of them still have unique sign referring to the "craftsman time".

On the North side of an old town there is located a church St. Magdalena (below) and a small "castle", which is now used as town hall. This is the mix of the roman style building from 13th century and gothic nave. On a main square there is located an old town hall (Altes Rathaus), in which now you can find a restaurant (below on the left).

Church St. Magdalena in an old town of Herzogenaurach

Most of the medieval buildings were equipped with a crane, which was used for carrying not only furniture to the house but also all kind of goods, which were distributed later on. Such "crane system" you can see above on the right and below.

Place for crane

Slightly further from the main center of an old town appointed by the two towers you can find the historical brewery and bakery.

Old brewery in Herzogenaurach

Bavarian pretzel from bakery in Herzogenaurach

Fountains in Herzogenaurach

As in all cities, also in Herzogenaurach you can find several manifestations of art. Normally we are not so interested in arts, but these are really nice.

On the main square you can find a nice fountain showing a knight fighting against a dragon. The knight has a shield with a coat of arms of Herzogenaurach.

Fountain on the main square of Herzogenaurach

Next to both towers there are located spires showing a naked man and a woman jumping into the water. Woman is starting her jump, while the man is almost into the water. The sculpture of the man ends in a small fountain near the Lookout Tower.

The third sculpture is located in the patio of a castle. It shows an old man making shoes, while the kids behind him are pulling a rope. In the middle you can again find a fountain...

Fountain in a patio of Herzogenaurach's town hall

Birth of the sport shoes market

None of the elements of the third fountain is accidental. Herzogenaurach is a town, where two brothers: Adolf and Rudolf in eraly 20's founded one of the first sport shoes factories. After the second World War they divided into two completely different brands. The brands' names originally came from the names of originators: Adolf Dassler -> ADIDAS and Rudolf Dassler -> RUDA. The second's brand name was not so nice and it was later changed to PUMA.

Thus, the kids pulling the rope symbolize those two brothers and they have properly branded shoes:

ADIDAS sign

PUMA sign

Fountain in a patio of Herzogenaurach's town hall

It's not the end of symbols contained in this fountain. The fight between brothers was that serious, that both of them built their headquarters on opposite banks of the river Aurach, which is showed by the water between the kids. The old headquarters can be still found in a vicinity of an old town of Herzogenaurach:

In the old town of Herzogenaurach you can still find the Dassler family house, where the first sport shoe factory was founded.

Dassler brand sign

Dassler family house

If you liked the story we recommend you to watch a movie: "Duell der Bruder - die Geschichte von Adidas und Puma".

Now, the "family fight" is gone and the two brands are only competitors on a sport clothing market. They already built new headquarters just outside the city. Moreover, you can find there concept stores and outlets of these two brands.