Sophie Scholl Birthday & Fun Facts

Sophie Scholl Birthday Highlights

Birth Name

Sophie Magdalena Scholl

Place Of Birth

Forchtenberg, Germany

Age

102 years old

Birth Date

May 9 1921

Sophie Scholl Facts

Child Star?

no

Occupation

Education & Qualifications

University of Munich

Net Worth

$1,000,000

Parents

Robert Scholl, Magdalena

Sophie Magdalena Scholl, born on May 9, 1921, was one of the greatest Anti-Nazi icons in the history of Germany.

Sophie Scholl and her brother, Hans Scholl, were members of the White Rose Movement, a resistance circle against the National Socialist Party that propagated non-violence. The political activist was one of the six children of Robert Scholl, a liberal politician, and Magdalena in Forchtenberg, Germany.

In her initial years, she supported Adolf Hitler and joined the League of German Girls, a.k.a. Band Of German Maidens, a Nazi wing's female organization. Soon, Sophie was disappointed and disillusioned with the Nazi ideology, and she changed her political views. She progressed in her education, and after schooling, Sophie Scholl entered the University of Munich, studying philosophy and biology. At the University, she heard about the White Rose organization, founded by her brother, Hans, and his friends, which questioned the agency of National Socialism. With the members of this organization, Sophie Scholl also distributed leaflets quoting slogans to inspire the public. When Sophie and her brother Hans distributed the flyers, they were spotted by the University's Janitor Jakob Schmid, who eventually turned them over to the Secret police, Gestapo. The Scholl siblings were investigated and interrogated by the Nazi authorities. Her brother Hans confessed. To save him and other White Rose members, Sophie claimed she was entirely responsible for the anti-Nazi acts. Justice Roland Freisler, an ardent Nazi supporter, investigated Sophie, Hans, and another White Rose member, Christoph Probst. The trio was found guilty and sentenced to death on February 22, 1943, in Stadelheim prison, Munich. With the last words, "The sun still shines", Sophie left this world when she was 22. With her brother and Christoph Probst, Sophie Scholl was buried in Friedhof am Perlacher Forst cemetery, near Stadelheim prison. Her courage, sacrifice, and desire for a free and democratic society made her an icon of anti-nazi after that.

What was Sophie Scholl's net worth?

Sophie Scholl's net worth was approximately between $1-1.5 million.

How much did Sophie Scholl earn per year?

Sophie Scholl's yearly earnings were not revealed to the public.

How tall was Sophie Scholl?

Sophie Scholl's height was unspecified.

How old was Sophie Scholl?

Sophie Scholl was born May 9, 1921, and was 22 years old when she was executed.

Sophie Magdalena Scholl was born on May 9, 1921 in Forchtenberg, Baden Wurttemberg, Weimar Republic. Sophie grew up in Lutheran Church. When she was seven, Sophia progressed in her education at school. After a few years of her birth, the Scholl family moved from Forchtenberg to Ludwigsburg. When Sophia was 10, the family again moved to Ulm.

In 1932, Sophie enrolled in a secondary school for girls in Ulm. Adolf Hitler rose to power the following year and took control of German society. Sophie, when aged 12, joined with her friends joined League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Madel). However, Sophie was disappointed and disillusioned with the ideology of the Nazis, such as racism.

In 1940, when the Second World War was ongoing, Sophie Scholl graduated from secondary school. After graduating, she enrolled in German National Labor Service and went to Blumberg to teach in a Government nursery. Upon completing her required service in May 1942, Sophia enrolled at Munich University to study philosophy and biology. Her brother, Hans, was already a student at the University of Munich, where he was registered to pursue medicine. During the summer of that year, Sophie spent her days working in a war-critical metal plant in Ulm as an order. Parallelly, her father, Robert Scholl, was forced to serve a couple of months in prison as a punishment for calling Hitler the "Scourge of God".

At the University of Munich, Sophie's interests ranged from politics and art, literature, music, and theology to philosophy. It was there she met a significant number of philosophers, writers, and artists. According to her biographical details, she also met German writers Carl Muth and Theodor Haecker. All these shaped her political and intellectual ideologies.

Sophie Scholl's family was considerably large. Sophie was born to Robert Scholl and Magdalena. She was one of the six children of Robert and Magdalena. Her siblings were Inge Aicher-Scholl, Hans Scholl, Elisabeth Hartnagel-Scholl, Werner Scholl, and Thilde School. Sophie's romantic interest was Fritz Hartnagel, who married her sister, Elisabeth Hartnagel.

Who was Sophie Scholl dating?

Sophie Scholl dathed Fritz Hartnagel.

Before joining the White Rose, Sophie Scholl worked as a kindergarten teacher at Frobel Institute in Ulm. Before enrolling in the University of Munich, she also went to Blumberg to teach in a nursery government school.

Best Known For…

"We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace" - Sophie Scholl.

Sophie Scholl became an Anti-Nazi icon. Sophie fought against the Nazi regime not with violence and bloodshed but with anti-nazi pamphlets. In the early '40s, her brother, Hans, with his fellow mates, Alexander Schmorell, Christoph Probst, and Willi Graf established a White Rose Movement whose mission was to oppose the National socialism regime and whose vision was to bring freedom. Upon witnessing the White Rose Movement and its principles, Sophie Scholl volunteered in. The White Rose wrote slogans and quotations and printed them on leaflets. They distributed pamphlets to the public. Sophie also took this endeavor, and her chance of getting suspected by the Schutzstaffel was low.

Unfortunately, on February 18, 1943, the Gestapo (secret police) arrested Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans Scholl while distributing the University of Munich leaflets. Jakob Schmid, the Munich University janitor, turned the Scholls siblings into Secretary Albert Scheithammer and then to Counsel Ernst Haeffner. It was Ernst Kaeffner who handed over the Scholls to the Gestapo. Both of the Scholls were then investigated. Robert Mohr, the interrogation specialist, suspected Sophie was innocent. But her brother, Hans, confessed his involvement, and on hearing his confession, to save her brother Sophia claimed she was entirely responsible for the act.

With her brother, Hans, and White Rose member, Christoph Probst, Sophie stood a trail. On February 21, 1943, their trial occurred in the German Reich People's Court under Justice Roland Freisler. During the trial, Sophie faced Justice Freisler, who supported the National socialist party and said, "Someday, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did".

The Scholl siblings and Probst were found guilty. The following day, they were executed by guillotine in Stadelheim Prison in Munich. All three were buried in the Friedhof am Perlacher Forst Cementary near the Stadelhiem prison. Sophie Scholl's last words were:

"How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine sunny day and I have to go, but what does my death matter if, through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"

After the execution of Sophia and others, one of the White Rose pamphlets reached Great Britain via Scandinavia. RAF dropped thousands and thousands of this pamphlet's copies in 1943 in Germany to show them the futility of violence and war. That leaflet was named "The Manifesto Of The Students Of Munich".

Charity Work

What awards did Sophie Scholl win?

In 2003, the Bavaria Government honored Sophie Scholl by erecting an effigy in the Walhalla Temple. The Geschwister Scholl Institut or Scholl Siblings Institute for Political Science is a Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich research institute. This research institute is named after Sophie and Hans. In 2021, the German Government released €20 ($20) coin on her 100th birthday anniversary.

Sophie Scholl's Hobbies And Interests

Sophie Scholl liked dancing, playing piano, drawing, reading, and painting. While studying at the Munich university with her fellow mates, Sophia shared their interests, such as loving art, literature, music, philosophy, and political views. Besides, she took part in swimming, hiking, and skiing.

• German director Marc Rothemund and screenwriter Fred Breinersdorfer, in 2005, brought out an Academy Award-nominated film 'Sophie Scholl - The Final Days' which featured the last days of Sophie during the Nazi regime. German actress Julia Jentsch played the role of Sophie Scholl in the movie. This film received Silver Bear Awards for Best Actress and Best Director when presented by the 55th Berlin Film Festival.
• The German theologian Gunter Biemer and Jakob Knab studied the letters sent between Sophie Scholl and her boyfriend, Fritz Hartnagel. They found that Sophie had sent Fritz two volumes of sermons from Cardinal Newman. According to these researchers, Sophie was interested and involved in theology and spirituality.
• Sophie acquainted herself with Degenerate Art or Entartee Kunst. The Nazi regime out-shunned specific arts and artists' works that they considered insulting to the nation. "Degenerate" was the term they adopted for those banned artworks.
• In 1991 Argentine-American writer wrote a play titled 'The White Rose'. In this play, the writer focused on investigating and interrogating Munich University students at the hands of the Nazi regime. The Munich University students covered in this play were Sophie Scholl, Robert Mohr, and four others. This play had been the recipient of the AT&T Award.
• In 2033, a German Television broadcasting company ZDF polled the most important Germans. Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans Scholl were in fourth place in the poll result.
• In 2008, Whitney Seymour, with his wife, Catryna, and daughters Gabriel and Tryntje, wrote the play 'Starts In A Dark Sky' under the penname R.E.Vickers. This play tell-told the heroic act of Sophie and her brother Hans Scholl as anti-Nazis.
• In 2009, Frank McDonough published 'Sophie Scholl: The Real Story Of The Woman Who Defied Hitler'. In this book, Frank referred to letters, diary entries, court files, secret police documents, and history archives concerning the life of Sophie. Frank also used interviews with Sophie's sister Elisabeth Hartnagel, the only surviving member of Scholl's family then, as a source.
• In 2010, the Historian Barbara Beuys published a biography on the German history icon Sophie Scholl titled 'Sophie Scholl: Biography'. By examining and researching more than hundreds of documents of Sophie Scholl, Barbara Beuys penned this biography of the world's importance. Barbara also wrote biographies of eminent persons like Annette Von Droste, Paula Modersohn-Becker, and Hildegard Von Bingen.
• On May 9, 2014, to commemorate Sophie Scholl's 93rd birthday, Google displayed her illustration in the Google Doodle!
• In 2017, at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, in West Virginia, David Meyer premiered the play 'We Will Not Be Silent', concerning Sophie Scholl's civil disobedience and righteous act.
• To commemorate the 100th birthday of Sophie Scholl, SWR and BR undertook an Instagram project to bring this resistance fighter from pages of history books to Instagram posts in 2021. As a part of it, they created an Instagram handle @ichbinsophiescholl, where Sophie's last 10 months were recreated by the actress Luna Wedler and pictures of the same were uploaded by SWR and BR. As of 2022, this handle has 400 images and more than 600,000 followers to its credit.
• 'Der Pedell', 'Five Last Days', 'The White Rose', 'Frauen die Geschichte machten - Sophie Scholl', and 'Death Of A Nation' were some of the TV films and documentaries that focused on Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Movement.

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