Inauguration of Sophie Scholl building

The European Parliament named one of its buildings (50 rue Wirtz, Brussels) after Sophie Scholl, following a proposal by the EPP Group.

At the official inauguration ceremony on 10 April, EPP Group Chairman Manfred Weber, Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola and Julia Jentsch, leading actress in the Oscar-nominated movie “Sophie Scholl - the Final Days” commemorated Sophie Scholl’s heroic fight for freedom and democracy. The official ceremony was followed by a short talk with Manfred Weber and Julia Jentsch, and the opportunity to visit an exhibition on the White Rose Resistance Group, made available by the White Rose Foundation in Munich. Another moving highlight was the playing of the song “Die Weisse Rose” (The White Rose) by Bavarian musician Konstantin Wecker.  

Background on Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Resistance Group:

Sophie Scholl was a German student, freedom fighter and activist for the peaceful resistance group Weiße Rose (White Rose), who fought against the National Socialist dictatorship.

In their distributed leaflets calling on the German people to resist, the White Rose Resistance Group fought for freedom of speech, freedom of confession and protection of the individual citizen from the arbitrariness of violent criminal states as the foundations of a new Europe.

After a one-day show trial, Sophie Scholl was beheaded with her brother and other fellows of the White Rose by the Nazi regime in Munich in 1943 - at the age of 21.

The EPP Group made this proposal because Sophie Scholl's unwavering courage, her political clarity and her defence of freedom and democracy are still an example for all Europeans.