Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., typically called FC Schalke 04 (German: [ɛf tseː ˈʃalkə nʊl fiːɐ̯], Schalke 04, or abbreviated as S04 (German: [ˈɛs nʊl fiːɐ̯], is a professional German football and also multi-sports club originally from the Schalke area of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The 04 in the club s name stems from its development in 1904. Schalke has long been just one of the most preferred professional football teams as well as multi-sports club in Germany, also though the club s heyday remained in the 1930s and 1940s. Schalke play in the 2. Bundesliga, the 2nd tier of the German football organization system, as an outcome of the 2020-- 21 transfer. Since June 2018, the club has 155,000 participants, making it the second-largest sporting activities club in Germany as well as the fourth-largest sporting activities club worldwide in terms of subscription. Other activities provided by the club include athletics, basketball, handball, table tennis, winter mont...