21. SEPTEMBER 2021 "WE ARE PROUD" (PART 3)

In part 3 of our series on "Käthe receives her own school in her hometown", we are giving the floor to the head boy of the Käthe Dassler Realschule plus with his speech during the naming ceremony:

Dear guests,

On behalf of all students, we would like to join together in welcoming you all and thank you for coming. Our special thanks go to Mrs. Sigrid Dassler-Malms, who has advised and supported us throughout this process.

We are very proud that our school will now bear a worthy name – the Käthe Dassler Realschule plus Pirmasens.

During our two weeks of project work, we learned a lot about Käthe Dassler and her life. We learned a lot about her youth in Pirmasens and also about Framas, the company her father founded.

We conducted interviews with eyewitnesses and close companions of hers, and we designed posters about her and her life.

We have compiled an exhibition with many selected pictures, which we hope that you, dear guests, will enjoy, even more so with the audio guide that we recorded ourselves.

Käthe Dassler, born and raised in Pirmasens, remained an excellent advocate for her hometown even after marrying and moving to Herzogenaurach. As you can see in the images in our exhibition, she was a very affectionate mother and a great family person.

However, she was also an independent and strong businesswoman who, after her husband's death, continued to lead Adidas and developed the company further. For example, she established that it would produce and sell not only shoes but also other textile products.

Famous athletes of whatever skin color and religion were regular visitors. She stood up for tolerance, openness, and hospitality – values which are important for our school community as well.

Fitting with its new name, our school will have a sports class this school year for the first time. Sport brings people together! No matter whether they're young or old, big or small, Catholic or Muslim.

This is another connection that our school shares with the Dassler family and with Käthe Dassler, who aimed for unity through sport.

We are therefore delighted that our school is named after Käthe Dassler.