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Before WWII, the kings of German football were without question Schalke 04.
The dramatic political (and social) change had its effect on the national game that Schalke 04 dominated. The Nazis, following other nations' example, attempted to create a national league — but those efforts would fail. Nevertheless, the geographic restructuring of the old Länder (states) into 16 Gaue (Nazi territorial divisions) brought about changes to the competition system. From now on, the national championship (what we know today as the Bundesliga) would be contested only by the 16 Gau champions. Meanwhile, the antisemitic policies purged Jewish people from German football, banning countless talents such as Dori Kürschner and the Austrian Richard Kohn.
And so, under the Nazis, a club with a great many Polish-sounding surnames became the masters of German football. By the time the Nazis lost the war a decade later, eleven Westphalia Gauligas had been played (1934–1944). S04 had won every single one of them. At national level they reached eight of the eleven finals, winning six. In addition, when the German Cup — the Pokal, initially named after the Nazi sports official Tschammer — was launched in 1935, they reached five of the first eight finals, though won only one. Beyond the eleven regional leagues, their national record read: six national championships, one Pokal and fourteen national finals contested.
The first championship in this format was secured with a comeback that seemed inconceivable. Szepan and Kuzorra turned it around with two agonising late goals that brought the miners complete success. S04 won their first German league title with goals in the 88th and 90th minute. Following that triumph, German football looked ahead to the 1934 World Cup.
Curiously, the German champions were represented by just one player in the national squad. Kuzorra — whose relationship with coach Nerz was a difficult one — was among the notable absentees. At least Szepan would be a leader, as captain and one of the few senior players. Germany fell in the semi-finals, though with a bittersweet flavour, having beaten the post-Wunderteam Austria along the way.
After the solid World Cup, Schalke repeated the feat by winning back-to-back national titles, this time against VfB Stuttgart. They also reached the first ever Tschammer Cup final, which they lost to Nürnberg. During 1937, Germany also played one of the finest matches of the pre-war era. After the humiliation at the home Olympics — where they fell under the gaze of the entire Nazi leadership, including Hitler — Otto Nerz departed as national coach. He would go on to have rather better luck organising the 2006 World Cup, though without lifting the trophy.
His replacement was his assistant Josef Herberger — who would oversee the country's first great international successes. An 8–0 victory over Denmark, previously unbeaten in recent years, passed into football legend. Two of Schalke's three attackers — Urban and Szepan — were behind that hammering.
Germany, who from that point went on to reach great heights and become a major power in the 1950s, would be destabilised by the annexation of Austria just months before the World Cup. It had been assumed this would strengthen the national side with the high quality of the Austrians. Instead, it ended up shattering the stability and cohesion of the pre-tournament favourites for the 1938 World Cup.
𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮: "𝘍ú𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘭 𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘰 𝘐: 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘪ó𝘯 𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘭𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘧ú𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘭" 𝘣𝘺 𝘙𝘢𝘧𝘢 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘭 here
