The Great Schalke 04 1932-42

The adventure of the great Schalke 04 begins with the coach's second stint at the club. During the 1932-33 season, the German coach could count on some of the best German players in history, among them: Fritz Szepan, Ernst Kuzorra and Adolf Urban.

The team's philosophy, which will be sublimated from the 1933-34 season by the new coach Hans Schmidt, is based on a game with one touch of the ball. During this 1932-33 season, the club had a very good season as it finished in 1st place in the Ruhr Regional Championship, 18 matches, 16 victories, 0 draws, 2 defeats, 71 goals scored, 14 goals conceded.

The German championship is then a sort of final phase where the champions of each regional championship come together. To designate the champion of certain regions (divided into 2 groups), a final is played as a round-trip match or in the form of a small tournament. During this 1932-33 season, Schalke faced SV Höntrop, in the first leg the club from the city of Gelsenkirchen won 5-3, before winning again 3-2 in the return match.

At the same time, the club played in the West German championship, which it won in the final 1-0 against Fortuna Düsseldorf after eliminating Hamborn 07 2-0 and SuS Hüsten 09 5-1.

Schalke reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the German championship (4-1 victory against Viktoria 89 Berlin and 1-0 against FSV Frankfurt). In the final, the club faced Fortuna Düsseldorf who took their revenge and won 3-0.

With the Nazi party taking power in Germany in 1933, the West German championship was abolished and we saw the creation of new regional championships numbering 16, the Gauligen. Schalke 04 belongs to that of Gauliga-Westphalia and will win all the editions until 1944: 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944.

In the 1933-34 German championship, Schalke 04 impressed with its fast and technical offensive play. Now the format is different, the 16 regional champions are in 4 groups of 4. The champion of each group advances to the semi-final of the German championship.

In its group, Schalke 04 finished first with 8 points (4 wins and 2 losses), 16 goals scored for 7 goals conceded. In the semi-final, Schalke 04 beat SV Waldhof Mannheim 5-2 before winning the German championship 2-1 against FC Nuremberg. Hermann Nattkämper finished 5th top scorer in the German championship with 6 goals, Fritz Szepan has 4 goals just like Adolf Urban, Ernst Kuzorra scored 3 goals.

During the 1934-35 season, FC Schalke 04 saw the emergence of a young 22-year-old player who had just signed for the club, Ernst Poertgen, the team's center forward. In the German championship, Schalke finished 1st in its group with 10 points, but above all with 27 goals scored in 6 matches with only 6 conceded. Schalke walks on water and once again establishes itself as the favorite of the championship after genius matches, a 9-1 at home against SC Stettin or a 4-0 against Hannover 96.

In the semi-final, a 3-2 victory against Polizei Chemnitz, then a new final won 6-4 against VfB Stuttgart in front of 70,000 spectators. Ernst Poertgen scores a hat-trick. In the German Cup, the club reached the final, but lost 2-0 against 1. FC Nuremberg and Georg Friedel who scored twice in the second half.

Ernst Poertgen finished top scorer in the German championship with 11 goals and Ernst Kuzorra finished top scorer in the German Cup with 9 goals.

The 1935-36 season was still good but the club failed to win the German championship. Despite a 1st place during the group stage, the club was eliminated in the semi-final 2-0 by FC Nuremberg. During the 3rd place match, Schalke, who were disappointed by their elimination, crushed Vorwarts Gleiwitz with a score of 8 goals to 1 at the Poststadion in Berlin, with Ernst Kuzorra scoring a hat-trick. He finished 3rd top scorer in the championship with 8 goals.

The German Cup was another failure in the final against 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig who won the match 2-1. Ernst Poertgen finished joint top scorer in the German Cup with 7 goals scored.

The 1936-37 season was surely the most successful in terms of trophies for Schalke 04. Indeed, the club finished first in its group in the German Championship ahead of Werder Bremen and Hertha Berlin: 6 matches, 5 victories, 1 draw, 31 goals scored, 5 conceded. The club eliminated VfB Stuttgart 4-2 in the semi-final then won the final 2-0 against FC Nuremberg with goals from Ernst Poertgen and Ernst Kalwitzki.

In the German championship, the offensive players particularly shone. Ernst Kalwitzki, right winger of the team, finished top scorer in the championship with 10 goals scored. Adolf Urban is 3rd with 8 goals, Ernst Poertgen 8th with 7 goals, Fritz Szepan 10th with 6 goals, Ernst Kuzorra 11th with 5 goals.

In the German Cup, the club won in the final 2-1 against Fortuna Düsseldorf, led by a certain Paul Janes who scored that day in the 84th minute. But the goals from Ernst Kalwitzki and Fritz Szepan will have given a new trophy to the team in blue.

The 1937-38 season was another sporting success despite the absence of major trophies won. Indeed, the club lost both the final of the German championship during a series of madness. Indeed, after a first match which ended after extra time with a score of 3-3 (Ernst Poertgen opening the scoring on a penalty in the 29th minute; Ernst Kalwitzki will score in the 35th minute before a second goal from Ernst Poertgen in the 67th minute ; Schalke will come back to score in the 87th minute).

During the support match which will attract even more spectators (92,895 in the first, 94,812 in the second at the Olympiastadion in Berlin), Schalke dominates 3-2 in the 86th minute with goals from Ernst Kuzorra (2) and Fritz Szepan, the club cracked again in the 87th minute before falling into overtime in the 117th minute, Hannover 96 winning 4-3. The club performed poorly in the German Cup by being eliminated in the first round. Ernst Poertgen will finish 2nd top scorer in the German championship with 8 goals, Ernst Kuzorra 10th with 5 goals and Fritz Szepan 18th with 3 goals just like Ernst Kalwitzki.

The 1938-39 season was the one that saw Germany enter the Second World War. From this season and due to the Anschluss (i.e. the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich), Austrian clubs take part in the German championship. The Austrian championship is transformed into a “regional” championship which qualifies 2 clubs for the national championship. That season, Schalke 04 was going to be exceptional, the team first qualified for the semi-final after coming out first in the group (10 points, 5 wins, 1 loss, 17 goals scored, 5 conceded).

During these semi-finals, Schalke faced Dresdner SC, the initial match ended in a 3-3 (double from Ernst Kalwitzki and a goal from Ernst Kuzorra, who was then 33). The support match ends with the logical victory of Schalke 2-0, Hermann Eppenhoff and Ernst Kalwitzki scorers.

In the final the club faces Admira Vienna in a match which will anchor the Schalke 04 club in legend, a clear 9-0 victory in the final in front of 100,000 spectators. This is undoubtedly the club's best performance in its history. Ernst Kalwitzki scores 5 goals, Ernst Kuzorra and Fritz Szepan score the last two goals of the match.

In the German Cup, Schalke lost in the second round. Ernst Kalwitzki logically finishes top scorer in the German Championship with 11 goals, Fritz Szepan finishes 8th with 5 goals just like Adolf Urban, Ernst Kuzorra finishes 14th with 4 goals.

The 1939-40 season was in the same vein, but Schalke was much more offensive in their game. 35 goals scored for 5 conceded in the group phase where they finished first (4 wins, 2 draws). In the semi-final Schalke beat SV Waldhof Mannheim 3-1 before winning the championship 1-0 in the final against Dresdner SC. Ernst Kalwitzki being the only scorer of the match. During this campaign, Schalke impressed observers by winning a match 16-0 against CSC 03 Kassel.

Among the top 30 scorers in the championship, we find 7 players from Schalke (Ernst Kuzorra 7 goals (3rd), Fritz Szepan 7 goals (3rd), Willi Schuh 6 goals (8th), Herbert Burdenski 5 goals (11th), Ernst Kalwitzki 5 goals (11th), Hermann Eppenhoff 4 goals (15th), Bernhard Füller 2 goals (28th).

The club exits the German Cup in the round of 16 2-1 against SpVgg Greuther Fürth. In the championship as in the German Cup, the Austrian clubs and their great attackers overshadow Schalke a little, even if the club remains strongly dominant.

During the 1940-41 season, Schalke lost the final of the German Championship 4-3 against Rapid Vienna, whose striker was Franz Binder, one of the best Austrian strikers in history and who scored a hat-trick in this match in 8 minutes (62, 63 and 70th minutes). He single-handedly overturns the match and Schalke who had scored thanks to Hinz Goal (6th minute and 57th minute) and Eppenhof (7th minute). Hermann Eppenhoff scores 15 league goals, 3 more than Franz Binder.

In the German Cup, the club did better and reached the final after eliminating Austria Vienna 4-1 in the quarter and Kieler SV Holstein 6-0 in the semi-final. But the final is complicated and the club loses this final 2-1 against Dresdner SC despite a goal from Ernst Kuzorra (36 years old) and who is still the starter in this squad.

During the last season of the golden age of Schalke 04, that is to say the 1941-42 season, the club saw the appearance of a new format for this competition: It is now played in the form of a cup , with single knockout match. 7 of the 25 clubs are exempt from the first round and enter directly into the 1/8 finals. Fritz Szepan finishes top scorer in the championship with 8 goals, Hermann Eppenhoff finishes second with 5 goals, Ernst Kalwitzki is 7th with 4 goals.

Schalke won the final 2-0 against FC Vienna thanks to goals from Kalwitzki (14th minute) and Szepan (42nd minute). In the German Cup, the club lost once again in the final, 2-0 against TSV Munich 1860.

Schalke will forever remain as one of the best German teams of all time, after the war some club legends continue to play for Schalke 04 like Hermann Eppenhoff, Enrest Kuzorra (who will play 27 years at the club and put ended his career at 45) or Fritz Szepan (who played 25 years at the club and ended his career at 43).