Ernst Kuzorra
Kuzorra in the season opener against Schalke in 1987
Ernst Kuzorra ( born October 16, 1905 in Gelsenkirchen, † 1 January 1990 ) was a German football player.
Kuzorra played in the 1920s to the 1940s for the FC Schalke 04 and has been with the team six times German Champion and one Tschammerpokal winner. Together with his brother Fritz Szepan he created the so-called centrifugal Schalke. In 1950, he finished with 45 years of his active career as a player.
Life
Early years
Kuzorra, son of originating from Mazury miner Kuzorra Karl and his wife Bertha, worked after leaving school, first at the Zeche Consolidation, until he focused on mid-1920s entirely on football.
1926, the club was promoted to the then highest West German league. A year later managed " Clemens " as his friends called Kuzorra, the leap into the national team and played in the 2-2 draw against the Netherlands in the semi- left position.
1928 was the striker in the Olympics Amsterdam while, but did not play. 1930 his international career was interrupted due to a barrier against the Schalke players ( because of unauthorized gratuities ) for one year. Kuzorra would then be able to play as a professional in Vienna for 1,000 marks a month, but Schalke remained loyal. 1930 Kuzorra made by two international matches in Germany a name: the 5-0 victory over Switzerland, he contributed three goals. The subsequent sensational 3:3 in the "mother country" of football against England was one of the formative events of his international career for him.
Era Schalke
The " era Schalke" began in 1933 when the club for the first time a final of the German Cup reached, they lost 0-3 to Fortuna Dusseldorf. A year later succeeded the " Royal Blues " a 2-1 victory against the favored 1 FC Nuremberg. In this encounter Kuzorra held despite a hernia through, scored just before the final whistle Schalke winning goal, broke down and was a living legend. In the next ten years a success chased the other: 1935 German Masters 1937 champion and cup winner (first winner of the " Doubles " ), 1939 for the fourth time champion by a 9-0 over the SK Admira Vienna. A year earlier Kuzorra had played against Hungary, his twelfth and last international match ( seven goals). Further deployments in the DFB jersey prevented coach Otto Reich mink, with the Kuzorras kind bluntly speak his mind, did not get along.
The Schalke success, the " centrifugal " ( precise, short-passing game ), presented the opponent even when the championship games in 1940 and 1942 with unsolvable problems. The Dresdner SC defeated 1-0; the following year, Schalke lost 3:4 against SK Rapid Wien. In Schalke's sixth title Vienna Vienna In 1942, with the worst of 0:2.
1935/36, coached Kuzorra today's arch-rivals Schalke Borussia Dortmund. He was represented at the first official professional trainer Fritz Thelen, also a former player of FC Schalke 04, and a brother- Kuzorras. At that time there was the rivalry between the two clubs not in today's dimensions and Kuzorra himself had kinship and friendship relations in the Dortmund Borsigplatz district.
From 1942 to 1946 Kuzorra coached SpVgg Erkenschwick. He reached her Gauliga, the then highest German league. From June 1949 to 1951 trained the twelve international caps Borussia GER, a team in the Rhine district league. Despite his trainer certificate is called the Schalke Idol only "advisors". One last time took Kuzorra in the season 1969/70 as a coach on the Schalke bench. He acted as a " straw man " for Slobodan Čendić who had Rudi Good village replaced, but still no DFB license possessed.
Both Kuzorra, who was equally brilliant players like best fighter, as well as his team-mate and brother Fritz Szepan had crossed the peak of their mid-1940s. They helped after the end of World War II still in the rebuilding of the Schalke team in the West German Oberliga. Kuzorra was active until the end of 1948 and took two years later with Fritz Szepan with a match against Atlético Mineiro in the Schalke Glückaufkampfbahn officially farewell.
Retirement
On April 19, 1971 Kuzorra was quoted in the WAZ with the criticism that it was 0:1 Schalke on the previous Saturday against Arminia Bielefeld "weak Schalke idea " and also " no DM 18 for the grandstand ticket worth have been a". Later it turned out that he had been "bought" just this game result for $ 100,000 bribe, a key event in the so -fixing scandal.
1980 Ernst Kuzorra was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 1985 appointed honorary citizen of Gelsenkirchen. He died on New Year's Day 1990 in Gelsenkirchen 84 years.
Afterlife
A strong discussion arose to in the 1990s, as increasingly voices came up to a renaming of the Kuzorra Square and a withdrawing Gelsenkirchen honorary citizenship because Ernst Kuzorra had come along with his teammates Fritz Szepan and Hans Bornemann on 1 May 1937 in the Nazi Party (member number 5415713 ).
The measures discussed were never completed, the name of the place has not changed. According to current estimates, it may have been difficult for a popular player like Kuzorra, to oppose collection attempts by the former policy. Witnesses described him as basically apolitical people. However, in individual cases, he openly criticized the National Socialist sports policy. As in the final of the German Cup in 1941 Schalke 04 defeated by the SK Rapid Vienna to a 3-0 lead even with 3:4, he suspected manipulation. In the direction of the Reich Sports Leader Hans von Tschammer and East, he expressed the suspicion: "The fact that we have lost here was politics, not a sport ."
Miscellaneous
Because the then club president of FC Schalke 04, Günter Eichberg (the " Sun King" ), not in time appeared to the funeral, but wanted to be seen necessarily on the official photo of the funeral, after the burial Kuzorras the funeral procession and wreath-laying ceremony were a second time performed.
A quip about Ernst Kuzorra is the former Federal President Johannes Rau attributed: On the question of whether football stadiums should not be once named after women, he is said to have replied: "And how are we supposed to call you? The Ernst Kuzorra his wife their stadium? ".
Ernst Kuzorra is one of the players who have played in her career for one club, see List of one- club men (English).