Schill's escaped execution and became known as 'The Twelfth'. Lieutenant Heinrichvon Wedell had served with Schill as far back as the Siege of Kolberg. He
His mother Peira (known as "Betty"), née van Geldern (1771–1859), was the daughter of a physician. Heinrich was the eldest of four children. He had a sister
nicknamed the Restless or Turbulentus because of this. In 1477 he was sent to Geldern to attend to administrative matters. Two years later, in 1479, he had to