born in bochum as the son of an iron works director, schily grew up in a family of anthroposophists. his younger brother is konrad schily, an academic and also a politician. they spent their adolescence during the war in bavaria. the family opposed adolf hitler. in 1962, he passed his second state exam after having studied law and politics in munich, hamburg, and berlin, thus being admitted to the bar; a year later, he opened his own law practice.