The Town of a Thousand Fires
In 1838, Gelsenkirchen was a small village with a population of 505; by 1903, after the mining of coal had begun, it had climbed to 138,000. The city became a destination for workers from Poland and after World War II from southern Europe and Turkey. Gelsenkirchen grew into the most important mining town in Europe, home to almost 400,000 people. Now that all the mines have closed the city has been hit for decades with one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany.
A Home Away from Home
Many of the new residents came from rural areas and longed for a green oasis in their hardscrabble lives. The city provided them with “Schrebergärten”, gardens on the edge of town where people could rent out small plots. After World War II these gardens were sources of otherwise hard-to-get fresh fruit and vegetables. Today Gelsenkirchen’s 3663 Schrebergärten have turned into recreational areas.
A Team of Miners
When FC Schalke 04, Germany’s most legendary club, was founded in 1904, Schalke was merely a Gelsenkirchen suburb. For a long time, the entire team consisted of miners. Ernst Kuzorra was the most famous player of the old times. There are many stories about him. One says that his fellow miners voluntarily did his share of work before important soccer matches, while he took it easy, so he’d be fit for competition.
Schalke’s Golden Age
Schalke’s golden age were the 1930s and 40s, when the club was in the German championship final nine times and won the title six times. After many ups and downs in the 1970s and 80s Schalke 04 has again become a dominant force in European soccer winning the UEFA Cup in 1997 and the German Cup in 2001 and 2002.
Schalke’s Biggest Fan
Schalke 04 boasts more than 84,000 members (May 2010), the second-highest number for a German sports club after Bayern München. Pope John Paul II became an honorary member of the club in 1987 after celebrating a mass in the soccer stadium.
Not Just a Soccer Stadium
Schalke 04 plays in the Veltins Arena, one of Europe’s most modern and noisiest arenas. It features a retractable roof and a grass field that slides in and out of the stadium as needed. The Veltins Arena hosts everything from soccer to pop-concerts and operas, from motorbike racing to boxing matches.
The Mother of all Derbies
The most exciting rivalry in German sports is between Schalke 04 and its neighbor in the Ruhrgebiet, Borussia Dortmund - heated affairs on the field and in the stands. In 1997 Schalke’s goalie Jens Lehmann scored in the very last minute with a magnificent header. In 2007 Schalke’s championship dreams fell apart as Schalke lost the match and the league lead, which they had held for three months, on the penultimate day of the season in Dortmund.
The Scandal
In 1971, a number of Schalke players and officials were accused of accepting bribes. Investigations showed that Schalke had played so as to deliberately lose an important Bundesliga match. As a result several players were banned for life, including three who were with the German national team of the time, but the penalties were later commuted to bans ranging from six months to two years.