Wer ist rudi assauer

Former Schalke sporting director Rudi Assauer is dead. The 74-year-old died on Wednesday, February 6, just hours ahead of his former club's DFB Cup matchup against Fortuna Düsseldorf.

In many ways, Rudi Assauer has been a child of the Bundesliga, a significant personality on the pitch and later in the boardroom of one of Germany's most important clubs.

As a player, Rudi Assauer played 307 Bundesliga games for Borussia Dortmund -- Schalke's most prominent rival -- and Werder Bremen. In fact, Assauer might be one of the view personalities that have legendary status with both Dortmund and Schalke.

GERMANY - MAY 22: FUSSBALL: UEFA - POKALSIEG SCHALKE 04 22.05.97, FEIER IN... [+] GELSENKIRCHEN/Parkstadion, Trainer Huub STEVENS und Manager Rudi ASSAUER mit dem Cup (Photo by Bongarts/Getty Images)

Over in Dortmund Assauer, after all, was part of the 1966 team that became the first German club to win a first a UEFA sanctioned trophy after beating Liverpool 2-1 in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in Glasgow. That trophy and his many Bundesliga games for Dortmund have earned Assauer a star on the Dortmund walk of fame.

But it was 35km west, in Gelsenkirchen, where Assauer would build his life's work.

Following the end of his career at Werder Bremen Assauer switched his boots for a job in the Bundesliga boardrooms in 1976. Known as managers in Germany sporting directors hold a commanding position in German football. They are in charge of signing players and are positioned above head coaches in the pecking order.

In fact, the status of the modern sporting director, or manager, was very much defined by the role that Rudi Assauer held at Schalke. But the path there was not easy.

Assauer was first hired by Schalke in 1981 but only lasted until 1986. What followed was a career away from football. Assauer, in fact, became a rich man thanks for his clever real estate investments.

Football, however, is a bit like a drug, similar to the cigars that were regularly spotted between Assauer's lips -- the two could not be separated. In 1990 Assauer took a management position at Oldenburg and in 1993 he returned to Schalke where he was in charge until 2006.

During his second stint at Schalke, Rudi Assauer became one of the most dominant figures in German football. Together with Bayern's Uli Hoeneß, Bayer Leverkusen's Reiner Calmund and Werder Bremen's Willi Lemke, Assauer redefined the image of the Bundesliga manager.

GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 06: Rudi Assauer banner is seen during the DFB Pokal Cup match... [+] between FC Schalke 04 and Fortuna Duesseldorf at Veltins-Arena on February 06, 2019 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images)

Sporting directors, in fact, were almost the true stars of Bundesliga clubs and their battles, and open confrontations became an important part of the Bundesliga soap opera. Assauer with his cigars and outspoken personality would often clash publically with Bayern sporting director and now president Uli Hoeneß, who stressed on Wednesday ahead of Bayern's DFB Cup game against Hertha that the two were great friends in private.

In that regard, the 1990s became the foundation of the modern Bundesliga. A league that was not just about football but also about the star power off the pitch, an entertainment industry rather than just a game. Assauer understood that game better than most, and it was for that reason that he pushed hard for Schalke to modernise.

It was a push that he orchestrated successfully. First, he cleared Schalke's financial debts and second, he hired head coach Huub Stevens in 1996 -- replacing the very popular head coach Jörg Berger. Under Stevens, Schalke would win the UEFA Cup in 1997 and the German Cup in 2001 and 2002.

The one title that got away was the German championship. Schalke, however, came close in 2001. The club, in fact, was already celebrating the title following the conclusion of the 34th matchday at the end of the 2000/01 season.

Schalke had won their last game but needed to have Bayern lose their game in Hamburg. A rumour, spreading like wildfire throughout the stadium, had everyone in the crowd think that Bayern had lost their game and the field was flooded with fans celebrating the club's first national championship since 1958.

Bayern's game, however, was not concluded and in the 94' minute, Bayern's defender Patrik Andersson hammered home a freekick that would win Bayern the title. It was thanks to Assauer's management ability, however, that the club quickly collected itself and that his team won the DFB Cup just days after the most painful moment in the club's history.

Off the field, Assauer was the main driving force behind Schalke's modern Veltins-Arena. The old Parkstadion had been long a millstone around Schalke's neck, and in 1998 the club laid the foundation for a new Arena in Gelsenkirchen.

GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - APRIL 12: Praessegespraech Namensrechte Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen,... [+] 12.04.05; Manager Rudi ASSAUER vor dem Arena-Modell das kuenftig Veltins-Arnea heissen wird mit dem Generalbevollmaechtigten der Veltins-Brauerei Michael HUBER - Mitte - und Praesident Gerd REHBERG (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Bongarts/Getty Images)

The new stadium became the first facility in Germany that could open and close the roof and also can roll the field outside the stadium to ensure optimum conditions for the grass to grow. The stadium also includes luxury boxes and allowed Schalke to become financially stable and ultimately one of Germany's three richest clubs.

Ultimately, the stadium is Assauer's brainchild, a brainchild that led to repeated clashes with Schalke's board of directors because of rising costs. Assauer, however, remained steadfast and saw the project through to the very end.

Schalke's most successful era under Assauer, however, ended when Stevens left the club for league competitor Hertha in 2002. Furthermore, Assauer struggled after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer. He kept the diagnosis secret, but by 2006 he was no longer able to hide his problems and was voted out of the board in 2006 -- he refused a position as the honorary president of the club.

"One doesn't want to admit it. If there is something I was terrified, then Alzheimer," he admitted later in an interview. In 2012 he went public with his sickness by publishing a biography. Now seven years later he has died from complications with Alzheimer but will always be remembered as one of the creators of the modern Bundesliga, in general, and modern Schalke, in particular.

Manuel Veth is the Editor-in-Chief of the Futbolgrad Network, which focuses on football in the post-Soviet space, the Bundesliga and football in the Americas. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, ProSoccerUSA and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth 

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