[1] After his professional career for Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen, Assauer served as the general manager of FC Schalke 04 for many years.

This first tenure ended with his dismissal, and Assauer spent four years out of football and went into real estate.

Since taking over for the second time, Schalke have seen much success, including a 1997 UEFA Cup win, and victory in the DFB-Pokal finals of 2001 and 2002.

Schalke narrowly lost the Bundesliga title race in 2001 in the very last minute to Bayern Munich, which was described as the most bitter moment in his career.

His agency Assauer Sportmanagement AG represents, among others, Marc-André Kruska, Stefan Wächter, Sun Xiang and Pekka Lagerblom.