[1] Scheibler was born in Montjoie (today Monschau) in the Prussian Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg into a family of textile fabricants.

[2] He attended school in Monschau and Krefeld and received a practical education at his uncle's Worsted factory at Verviers (Belgium).

Because of the riots of the Spring of Nations in 1848 Scheibler decided to leave Germany and moved to Ozorkow in Congress Poland, where his uncle, Friedrich Schlösser, had operated a textile factory since 1816.

After a fire destroyed the factory at Księży Młyn in 1874, Scheibler rebuilt it with 88.000 spindles and built his own "Kingdom" of Księży Młyn with houses for 321 families, a fire station, schools, shops and a hospital[5][6] Scheibler was known for his social engagement[7] and supported the foundation of a municipal credit association, the Commercial Bank of Łódź (Bank Handlowy) in 1872[8] as well as the construction of a Lutheran and a Catholic Church.

[4] The figure of the German industrialist Heinz Huntze, a character of The Brothers Ashkenazi, is loosely based on Karl Wilhelm Scheibler.