Schalke

A German football club from the city of Gelsenkirchen, Schalke district. It achieved its greatest successes in the 1930s and early 1940s (the team became seven-time German champion). The club is a major part of a sports club with more than 140,000 members (as of December 2015), which makes Schalke the second largest club in Germany. The club also has well-known basketball, handball and athletics teams.

The team's greatest success on the European stage came in 1997, when it won the UEFA Cup against Inter Milan. The team also won the Intertoto Cup in 2003 and 2004.

Pope John Paul II is an honorary member of the club, which he became after celebrating a liturgy at the Parkstadion (the team's old stadium) in 1987.

The team's fiercest rival is Borussia Dortmund, while Nuremberg is Schalke's best friend. The team has a mascot named Erwin.