The greatest football rivalry in Germany is the one between Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund. That is common knowledge. Less well known is that it is actually a relatively modern rivalry, not one with overwhelmingly deep roots before the Second World War.
There was no reason for such enmity then: Dortmund were too insignificant and Schalke too dominant. The story of the “mother of all derbies” in the Ruhr begins with a 4–2. FC Schalke 04 beat Borussia Dortmund clearly in May 1925, and no one was surprised. The BVB were still fiddling around in the Dortmund-Herne district league, while Schalke were already the dominant western club and nine years later would become German champions for the first time.