Philipp Wurzbacher

Freikorps RoßbachJohann Philipp Wurzbacher (26 May 1898 – 31 March 1984) was a German Sturmabteilung (SA) officer who rose to the rank of SA-Brigadeführer. He was also a Nazi Party member of the Reichstag from electoral constituency 26 (Franconia) between March 1933 and 1945. He fought as an officer with the Wehrmacht for the duration of the Second World War. After the war, he remained imprisoned in labour camps until 1953.

Early life Wurzbacher was born as Johann Philipp Wurzbacher, the son of a factory weaver in Selbitz. He attended the local Volksschule and then a technical training school in Nuremberg. At age 18, he joined the Royal Bavarian Army and fought in the First World War. He was a member of a pioneer battalion from 1 December 1916 and then was transferred to a mortar company of the 11th Bavarian Infantry Division. He sustained a serious wound in 1917 and, after spending several months in a hospital, he returned to his unit.

After the end of the war, Wurzbacher was discharged from military service on 24 January 1919. In the immediate postwar period, Wurzbacher began to become active in extreme right-wing political circles, belonging to Freikorps Roßbach, the Organisation Consul, and the Viking League. During this time, Wurzbacher worked as an independent businessman (manufacturing and distributing hand embroidery), later as publishing director of the Völkischer Beobachter in Franconia.

Marriage and family Würzbacher was married and had two children. He lived in Nuremberg and Schwarzenbruck.

Nazi Party career Wurzbacher joined the Nazi Party for the first time on 21 October 1922. After the Party was banned in the wake of the Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923 and re-established in 1925, Wurzbacher rejoined on 8 August 8, 1927 (membership number 65,782). As an early Party member, he later would be awarded the Golden Party Badge. In April 1933, Wurzbacher was involved in organizing and implementing the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses in Nuremberg. During the Nuremberg Party Rally of 1933, he was promoted to SA-Oberführer. From 24 August 1934, to 1945, he was the leader of SA-Brigade 78 "Mittelfranconia" and was promoted to SA-Brigadeführer on 1 May 1937.

Second World War During the Second World War, Wurzbacher served with the Wehrmacht from the beginning of the war in September 1939 until Germany's surrender in May 1945. He served in the 213th, 186th and 334th infantry regiments, on the western, eastern and Italian fronts. At the end of the war, he held the rank of Hauptmann.

Postwar life After being held as a prisoner of war by the Americans and interned in labour camps, Wurzbacher was released in mid-1953. He died in 1984 in Altdorf bei Nürnberg.