Robert Scholl


Robert Scholl was a Württembergian politician and father of Hans and Sophie Scholl. Scholl was a critic of the Nazi Party before, during and after the Nazi regime, and was twice sent to prison for his criticism of Nazism. He was mayor of Ingersheim 1917–1920, mayor of Forchtenberg 1920–1930 and lord mayor of Ulm 1945–1948, and co-founded the All-German People's Party in 1952.

Personal life

Scholl was born in the Baden-Württemberg town of Mainhardt on 13 April 1891. During World War I, he met his future wife Magdalena Müller when he was serving in the same hospital as her. The couple married shortly afterward and moved to Ingersheim an der Jagst. In 1920, they moved again to Forchtenberg. Robert and Magdalena Scholl had six children: Inge, Hans, Elisabeth, Sophie, Werner, and Thilde, four of whom they outlived. In 1930, the family moved to Ludwigsburg and in 1932 to Ulm, where Scholl founded a tax and accounting service company.

Political life

Scholl became mayor of Ingersheim an der Jagst in 1917 and in 1920, mayor of Forchtenberg, a position he held until 1930.
Scholl was a critic of the Nazi Party that came to power shortly thereafter. His children, like most during this era, were initially active in the Nazi youth organisations and their father was initially incapable of dissuading them. However, his children quickly saw through the Hitler Youth facade, and eventually founded the White Rose, a political activism group supporting resistance to the Nazi party. In 1942, he was sentenced to four months in prison for calling Adolf Hitler the "scourge of God". The situation for the family gradually worsened. On 27 February 1943, five days after the execution of his children Hans and Sophie as members of the White Rose, Scholl was sentenced to 18 months in prison for listening to enemy radio broadcasts.
After World War II, he served as mayor of Ulm from June 1945 until 1948 and was a member of the preliminary parliament of Württemberg-Baden. In 1952 he co-founded the All-German People's Party with Gustav Heinemann and other like-minded politicians.

In film

Robert Scholl was portrayed by Jörg Hube in the film Sophie Scholl – The Final Days.