Robert and Magdalena Scholl had six children: Inge (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 and in 1932 to Ulm, where Scholl founded a tax and accounting service company.

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.

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.

[4] After World War II, he served as mayor of Ulm from June 1945 until 1948[4] and was a member of the preliminary parliament of Württemberg-Baden.