Adolf Urban

Adolf "Ala" Urban is one of the best players the club has ever produced. The home-grown Schalke player joined the first team in 1933. He was characterised by his speed and dribbling ability. He played on the left wing in the Schalke defence. He won five German championships with Schalke. His talent was so outstanding that he made 21 appearances for the German national team. He scored eleven goals in 21 games.

Urban had been a soldier in the Wehrmacht since 1935. After the outbreak of war in 1939, he was deployed to the front. Urban was only able to take part in Schalke matches on an irregular basis. In the final round of the 1942 championship, however, he was able to play in almost all of the games on the way to the sixth German championship. Urban celebrated his last championship with a 2-0 win against First Vienna.

In May 1943, he was seriously wounded in action on the front line. Despite an emergency operation, the Schalke striker's life could not be saved. Adolf Urban was buried in a German military cemetery in Russia. It was not until 2013 that his mortal remains were brought back home. Today, he has his final resting place not far from the Arena on the Schalke FanFeld.