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. 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. 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. Nazi period On 1 November 1931 Seydel rejoined the Nazi Party (membership number 530,786). 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. 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. == Publications ==