Kuzorra's Tobacco Shop
Legends behind the counter
Every child knows who owns the tobacco shop in König-Wilhelm-Straße. It is written in huge white letters on the façade: E. Kuzorra. The Schalke legend still lives here. Nevertheless, the boys are jostling each other again now. Everyone wants to take a look at the man behind the counter who is fetching the cigarettes from the shelf. In terms of age, he could be their grandfather by now; his statue barely resembles that of a successful sportsman anymore. Nevertheless, they always look through the shop windows with wide eyes and full of awe (click here for the story). When they tear themselves away from the façade and keep walking, they dream of entering the shop one day. To one day buy a ticket for the next home match at the Glückauf Stadium Stadium from Ernst Kuzorra himself. He keeps the tickets in an old cigar box under the counter. But that day is still a long way off for them: only those who are at least 21 years old may enter.
When he opened the tobacco shop in 1927, 22 year-old Kuzorra had only just come of age himself. He started with a small shop in Gewerkenstraße, where his old colleagues from the Consol Colliery would pass by on their way to the shift. Soon, however, he moved to Schalke Market. Now his shop was right in the heart of Schalker life, next to the Kaiserhalle. After the Schalker Markt and the old Schalke had sunk in the hail of bombs during the Second World War, Kuzorra moved further north. From his new shop in what is now Kurt-Schumacher-Straße, it took him less than five minutes to walk to "Ötte" Tibulsky's club pub. Here, in the pub later called "Bosch", he has his favourite place. Kuzorra continued to run the shop until 1975.
At the age of 69, Kuzorra handed his shop over to the next club legend: Former Schalke player Stan Libuda. His successor was not very lucky, Libuda gave up the shop after eight years. The tobacco shop remained on the premises under new management until 2013. Of course, a large sign above the entrance pointed out who used to fetch the cigarettes from the shelves here. Today, FC Schalke 04 runs a contact point for fans in the shop, which is steeped in history.
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