Their "Gebrueder Dassler Schuhfabrik", founded in 1924, supplied athletes at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin but was closed after the brothers fell out in 1948.

They founded their own firms -- Adi setting up Adidas while Rudolf founded Puma -- and their headquarters are still separated by just a few km.

Before Adidas moved to a former barracks on the outskirts, Puma was only a stone's throw away across the river Aurach in the town centre.

No conclusive reason has been found to solve the mystery of the row between the brothers although theories involving wives or politics have been expounded in several books.

The most recent publication, 'Three Stripes versus Puma' by Barbara Smit, suggests tensions were exacerbated by the Second World War, highlighted by an incident when Adolf and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in during an Allied air attack in 1943.

"The dirty bastards are back again," Adolf said, apparently referring to the planes, but Rudolf thought he meant him and his family.

The two companies have quite different cultures.

Adidas, trying to cultivate its image as market leader for soccer gear, sponsors former world champions such as Argentina, Germany and France.

Puma, which has made inroads into the world of sports lifestyle fashion and aims to come across as a cooler brand, sponsors five African nations.

TENSE BATTLES

Puma, with its leaping cat logo, has 12 World Cup teams under contract and has replaced its larger foe Adidas as the top sponsor at the second-biggest sporting event after the Olympics, which kicks off on June 9 in Berlin.

Only six teams at the month-long tournament will play in Adidas's three-stripes kit because many of its advertising partners, like European champions Greece, failed to qualify.

Competition in the global sporting goods industry is fierce and every match won and lost during the event could affect sales of replica jerseys.

In Herzogenaurach tensions will be running especially high, although they have eased in recent years.

Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer has even congratulated his Puma counterpart Johen Zeitz for his company's recent success with sports lifestyle fashion.

Remarkably, in a move unthinkable even a decade ago, Adidas has even hired a grandchild of Puma founder Rudolf Dassler as its top legal adviser.

"This stirred some excitement in town but it was also a sign that things have relaxed in daily life," said 65-year-old mayor Lang, who has always lived in the town. "People have mixed up."