Ernst Kuzorra was the towering figure of Schalke 04’s pre-war heyday, a forward whose leadership and goals made him the club’s greatest early icon. In the 1930s he drove Schalke to a series of German championships, their intricate passing style becoming a source of civic pride in the Ruhr.
A local hero in Gelsenkirchen, he embodied the working-class roots of the club he served throughout his career.