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Today, Schalke 04 are not the most fashionable German football club, but this was not always the case. When the reorganisation of German football occurred under the Nazi regime in 1933, Schalke were already very popular, having had to move into a new stadium the previous decade to accommodate their growing fan base. They found themselves playing in what was called the Gauliga Westfalen, which was one of 16 leagues that replaced dozens of regional and local leagues, all claiming top flight status. Schalkes time in this league was the most successful decade in their history.

 

From 1933 to 1942, the club made appearances in 14 out of 19 national championship finals – 10 in the German championship and 8 in the Tschammerpokal, which was the predecessor to todays DFB-Pokal. On top of this, they won the Gauliga Westfalen in every one of its 11 seasons. In all of these seasons, the club never lost a home match, and were beaten away only six times. They enjoyed completely unbeaten seasons in 1936-37, 1937-38, 1938-39, 1939-40 and 1941-42. Schalkes first national title occurred in 1934 when they achieved a 2-1 upset of FC Nurnberg, who were the favourites to take the win. They defended the title successfully the following year by knocking over VfB Stuttgart in a 6-4 thriller. Schalke did not make it to the 1936 final, but did make appearances in every final for the following six years, coming away victorious on 4 occasions. Unusually, three of these occasions were against Austrian teams – Admira Vienna, Rapid Vienna and First Vienna – who were all members of Germany’s Gauliga Ostmark after Austria’s incorporation into the Reich following the 1938 Anschluss. Their 9-0 win over Austria Vienna in the 1937 final is the largest win ever recorded in a German championship final. In 1942, with a championship final win over Rapid Vienna, Schalke became one of the last teams to be awarded the Viktoria Trophy, as it disappeared during the last stages of World War 2.

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Die Konigsblauen (The Royal Blues), as they are nicknamed, made several appearances in the Tschammerpokal final as well, but had less success there. They lost the inaugural edition in 1935 to FC Nurnberg, followed by three more failed appearances until finally achieving victory in 1937 against Fortuna Dusseldorf. This win completed the first double in German football history. Over a dozen seasons in this era, Schalke won 162 of 189 Gauliga matches, drew 21 and only lost 6, scoring 924 goals and conceding just 145. Their dominance of German football in this period led the club to become a favourite of the Nazi regime, and they were often held up for propaganda purposes as an example of “New Germany.” 

Achievements: German Football Championship – Champions x6
                         German Cup – Winners x 1 Runners up x4

Star player: Fritz Szepan DoB 2 September 1907, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

One of Schalkes star players in this era was Fritz Szepan, making up for his lack of pace with for his intelligence, technique, leadership and positional play, and known as the “pre-war Beckenbauer”. He spent his entire career with Schalke, starting off as a youth player and staying with the club all the way to retirement. He and fellow Schalke player Ernst Kuzzora married each other’s sisters, thus becoming brothers-in-law. Mostly playing in the midfield, Szepan led the Schalker Kriesel team to their 1930’s successes. He also captained the German national team in two World Cups. In 1937, he was the main playmaker of the Bresleu Elf side, and in 1938 he captained the “United Germany” team. Szepan went on to coach Rott-Weiss Essen to the German Championship in 1955 and was club president of Schalke 04 from 1964 to 1967. He died in his hometown on the 14 September 1974.