Robert Scholl (13 April 1891 – 25 October 1973) was a

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

ian politician and father of Hans and

Sophie Scholl Sophia Magdalena Scholl (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having bee ...

. Scholl was a critic of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

before, during and after the Nazi regime, and was twice sent to prison for his criticism of Nazism. He was

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Ingersheim 1917–1920, mayor of

Forchtenberg Forchtenberg is a town in the district of Hohenlohekreis, northern Baden-Württemberg. It lies on the side of a partly fortified hill overlooking the Kocher valley where the Kupfer river flows into the Kocher. The name Forchtenberg is derived fr ...

1920–1930 and lord mayor of

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

1945–1948, and co-founded the

All-German People's Party The All-German People's Party (german: Gesamtdeutsche Volkspartei, GVP) was a minor political party in West Germany active between 1952 and 1957. It was a Christian, pacifist, centre-left party that opposed the Wiederbewaffnung, re-armament of W ...

in 1952.

Personal life

Scholl was born in the

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

town of

Mainhardt Mainhardt is a municipality in the district of Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. See also * Mainhardt Forest The Mainhardt Forest is a hill range up to {{GeoQuelle, DE, BFN-Karten in the counties of Schwäbisch Hall and Heil ...

on 13 April 1891. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he met his future wife Magdalena Müller (1881–1958) 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

. Robert and Magdalena Scholl had six children:

Inge Inge is a given name in various Germanic language, Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Est ...

(1917–1998), Hans (1918–1943), Elisabeth (1920–2020), Sophie (1921–1943), Werner (1922–1944), and Thilde (1925–1926), four of whom they outlived. In 1930, the family moved to

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...

and in 1932 to

, where Scholl founded a tax and accounting service company.

Political life

Scholl became

of Ingersheim an der

Jagst The Jagst () is a right tributary of the Neckar in northern Baden-Württemberg. It is 190 km long. Its source is in the hills east of Ellwangen, close to the Bavarian border. It winds through the towns Ellwangen, Crailsheim, Kirchberg an der ...

(now part of

Crailsheim Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's main attractions include two Evangelical churches, ...

) in 1917 and in 1920, mayor of

, a position he held until 1930. Scholl was a critic of the

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 unable to dissuade them. However, his children quickly saw through the Hitler Youth facade, and eventually founded the

White Rose The White Rose (german: Weiße Rose, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students (and one professor) at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, ...

, a political activism group supporting resistance to the Nazi party. In 1942, he was sentenced to four months in prison for calling

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

the "scourge of

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

". 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

, Scholl was sentenced to 18 months in prison for listening to enemy radio broadcasts. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he served as mayor of Ulm from June 1945 until 1948 and was a member of the preliminary parliament of

Württemberg-Baden Württemberg-Baden was a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was created in 1945 by the United States occupation forces, after the previous states of Baden and Württemberg had been split up between the US and French occupation zones. ...

. In 1952, he co-founded the

with

Gustav Heinemann Gustav Walter Heinemann (; 23 July 1899 – 7 July 1976) was a German politician who was President of West Germany from 1969 to 1974. He served as mayor of Essen from 1946 to 1949, West German Minister of the Interior from 1949 to 1950, and Mini ...

and other like-minded politicians.

In film

Robert Scholl was portrayed by Jörg Hube in the film ''

Sophie Scholl – The Final Days ''Sophie Scholl – The Final Days'' (german: Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage) is a 2005 German historical drama film directed by Marc Rothemund and written by Fred Breinersdorfer. It is about the last days in the life of Sophie Scholl, a 21-y ...

'' (2005).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scholl, Robert 1891 births 1973 deaths People from Schwäbisch Hall (district) All-German People's Party politicians Politicians from Baden-Württemberg Protestants in the German Resistance Hans and Sophie Scholl