Joseph Seydel

Early years and First World War

Seydel was the son of the Bavarian General Staff physician Karl von Seydel and his wife Luise (née Koch). After attending the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich for three years, he spent six years in the Bavarian Cadet Corps and in 1906 was commissioned as an ensign in the 3rd Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment "Prince Leopold." The following year he was assigned to the War School, where one of his fellow students was the later Nazi politician Ernst Röhm.^[1]

In 1908 Seydel was promoted to lieutenant. In 1910 and 1911 he completed advanced training at the Royal Bavarian Artillery and Engineering School. In 1913 he attended the Equitation Institute in the Maximilian II Barracks.^[1]

During the First World War, Seydel served on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918 and held the rank of captain at the end of the war. He was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and the Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Swords. In 1916 he married Lotte Schöning, with whom he had two sons and one daughter.^[1]

Weimar Republic

After the First World War, Seydel joined the Freikorps Epp. In 1920 he was active in the leadership of the Bavarian Einwohnerwehr. Between 1922 and 1923, and again from 1925 to 1931, he worked in commercial positions.^[1]

From 1922 he was active in the Bund Reichskriegsflagge, which was directed by Ernst Röhm. In 1923 Seydel became deputy leader and later assumed leadership of the organization.^[1]

On 25 September 1923 Seydel participated in a secret conference of the Kampfbund, an alliance of the Nazi Party, the SA, the Reichskriegsflagge and the Bund Oberland. At this meeting Adolf Hitler was granted overall political leadership of the Kampfbund, paving the way for the November 1923 Beer Hall Putsch.^[2]

In November 1923 Seydel participated in the failed Hitler–Ludendorff Putsch in Munich. He spent four and a half months in pre-trial detention and in April 1924 was sentenced by the Bavarian People's Court to one year and three months of fortress confinement, which was considered served due to time already spent in custody.^[3]

In 1924 he helped establish the Frontbann, a successor organization to the banned SA, and was again briefly detained on suspicion of continuing prohibited associations.^[4]

Nazi period

On 1 November 1931 Seydel rejoined the Nazi Party (membership number 530,786).^[5]

After Ernst Röhm became Chief of Staff of the SA, Seydel assumed leadership roles in the Supreme SA Leadership and also authored publications on air-raid and gas protection.^[1]

In the July 1932 Reichstag election Seydel was elected as a Nazi Party deputy for the Dresden-Bautzen constituency. He lost his mandate in November 1932 but was re-elected in March 1933 and subsequently served in the Reichstag until the end of the Nazi regime in 1945.^[6]

In 1935 Seydel transferred to the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) as Motor Inspector West and in 1943 was promoted to the rank of Obergruppenführer.^[1]