Ernst Kuzorra was a German soccer player of the pre-war era. During his entire career, he played for Schalke 04, whom he led to six national championships and one national cup. He is commonly regarded as the greatest Schalke player of all time.

Life

Ernst Kuzorra was born as the son of East Prussian immigrants in the industrial town of Gelsenkirchen where his father worked as a coal miner. He joined the club in 1924 at the age of 14, allegedly playing his first match in his confirmation shoes after being asked to join the team while watching from the sidelines. Three years later, he advanced to the first team, where he soon became one of the starting players. During the years 1930-1931, he and thirteen teammates were banned for a relatively minor infraction of the strict amateur statutes, having received ten instead of the allowed five Reichsmarks as compensation for playing in an away game.
In the following years, Kuzorra along with his brother-in-law Fritz Szepan led Schalke to become the dominant team in German soccer, winning six national championships from 1934 to 1942. He was one of the main axes of what became known as the Schalker Kreisel, a system that used quick, short passes to confuse and overwhelm the opponent.
Even though he may have been the best German player on his position at the time, he only had 12 appearances for the national team, a fact that is widely attributed to his bad relation with national coach Otto Nerz. Nevertheless, because of his success and his athletic prowess, national socialist propaganda soon took an interest in him. Great efforts were made to show that Kuzorra, despite his obviously Slavic name and mixed origin, was in fact of purely Germanic stock. The success of these efforts was limited, however, as Kuzorra remained politically uninterested and due to his taciturn character a poor instrument for public campaigns.
After the war, Kuzorra remained playing for a few years, mainly for material reasons - at the time, soccer players were often reimbursed in otherwise scarce foodstuff. In 1950 he retired, and from then on earned his livelihood as proprietor of a tobacco and lottery store. Over time, he became a living legend, especially among the supporters of Schalke 04. In 1985, he finally received the honorary citizenship of his home town, Gelsenkirchen. Ernst Kuzorra died on New Year's Day in 1990 at the age of 84.

Miscellanea

• Ernst Kuzorra briefly worked as coach of Schalke's archrival Borussia Dortmund in 1935-1936. It should be noted, though, that at the time the rivalry hadn't yet been established.
• He and fellow Schalke star Fritz Szepan married sisters and thus became brothers-in-law.
• "Ernst-Kuzorra-seine-Frau-ihr-Stadion", a vernacular version of "Ernst Kuzorra's wife's stadium" became a standing expression because of a famous joke, often attributed to former Bundespräsident Johannes Rau.
• According to an anecdote, Kuzorra explained the geographical location of Schalke to the king of Sweden with the words "Anne Grenzstrasse, Euer Majestät" ("Right next to Grenz Road, Your Majesty!"). The factual accuracy of this quote is questionable, but gives a nice illustration of the common perception of Schalke 04 and its players in Germany.

External Links

• Article about early history of Schalke 04
• Database entry

German footballers | 1905 births | 1990 deaths | Schalke 04 players

Ernst Kuzorra | Ernst Kuzorra