Sophie Scholl: Student who resisted Hitler and inspires Germany

Her name is not widely known outside Germany, but Sophie Scholl is an iconic figure in her native country and her story is extraordinary.

This weekend many will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of a young woman who famously stood up to Adolf Hitler and paid for it with her life.

Her resistance is retold countless times in books, films and plays. And it continues to inspire people today.

Sophie Scholl was born in 1921 into a country in turmoil. But her childhood was secure and comfortable.

Her father was the mayor of the south-western town of Forchtenburg (though the family would later move to Ulm) and Sophie, along with her five brothers and sisters, was brought up in a Lutheran household in which Christian values mattered.

But by the time she reached her teens, Adolf Hitler was running the country.