Siegfried Seidel-Dittmarsch (4 January 1887 – 20 February 1934) was a German

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

politician and SS-''

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire ...

''. He was a member of the '' Reichstag'' and headed the SS central leadership staff that was the precursor of the

SS Main Office The SS Main Office (german: SS-Hauptamt; SS-HA) was the central command office of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in Nazi Germany until 1940. Formation The office traces its origins to 1931 when the SS created the SS-Amt to serve as an SS Headquarters ...

Early life

Seidel-Dittmarsch was born in Pammin (today,

Pomień Pomień (formerly German ''Pammin'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Recz, within Choszczno County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Recz, north-east of Choszczno ...

) in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to t ...

. He attended ''

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary ...

'' and the in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. After earning his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen yea ...

'', he embarked on a career as a professional military officer in the

Royal Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the cor ...

. In 1906, he was commissioned as a ''

Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High Germa ...

'' in the 48th (5th Brandenburg) Infantry Regiment "von Stülpnagel", headquartered in Küstrin (today,

Kostrzyn nad Odrą Kostrzyn nad Odrą (literally Kostrzyn upon Oder) (; german: Küstrin ) is a town in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland, close to the border with Germany. Geography The town is situated within the historic Lubusz Land (''Ziemia ...

), and later became the regimental

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

.Siegfried Seidel-Dittmarsch biography
in th

/ref> During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, Seidel-Dittmarsch fought at the

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * '' The Front'', 1976 film Music *The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

, where he was seriously wounded, earning the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia e ...

, 1st and 2nd class and the

Wound Badge The Wound Badge (german: Verwundetenabzeichen) was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between t ...

. He then served in various staff positions in the army high command. After the war, he remained in the military and became an advisor in the Prussian War Ministry and in the ''Reichswehr'' Ministry. In 1921, he resigned from the ''

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

'' at his own request, with the rank of '' Major''. In the following years, he made his living as a businessman in commercial and industrial companies.

Nazi Party and SS career

Seidel-Dittmarsch joined the

in October 1931. In the

July 1932 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 31 July 1932, following the premature dissolution of the Reichstag. The Nazi Party made significant gains and became the largest party in the Reichstag for the first time, although they failed to win a ...

, he was elected as a deputy to the '' Reichstag'' from electoral constituency 4 (Potsdam I). He failed to achieve reelection in the next election on November 6, when the Party experienced a drop-off in support. However, following the

Nazi seizure of power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

, he regained his former seat in the 5 March 1933 election, retaining this seat until his death. A member of the SS since October 1931 (SS number 18,615), Seidel-Dittmarsch served as the adjutant to ''

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-servi ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

and on the staff of SS-''Gruppe Ost'' until the end of 1932. He was next named Chief of the SS Leadership Staff (''SS-Fuhrungstabs'') that served as a liaison unit to other Party components. On 12 June 1933, he was an SS-''

'' and, upon the death of SS-''

Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically a NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographic ...

'' Dr. Ernst Bach, succeeded him as Chief of the ''SS-Amt'', the precursor to the

. In addition, he held the office of Inspector at the ''Obersten SA-Führung'' (Supreme SA Leadership) from February 1933.Obituary notice in the ''

Vossische Zeitung The (''Voss's Newspaper'') was a nationally-known Berlin newspaper that represented the interests of the liberal middle class. It was also generally regarded as Germany's national newspaper of record. In the Berlin press it held a special role ...

'', 22 February 1934. On 14 September 1933, Prussian

Minister-president A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

appointed him to the recently reconstituted

Prussian State Council The Prussian State Council (german: Preußischer Staatsrat) was the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Free State of Prussia between 1920 and 1933. The lower chamber was the Prussian Landtag (''Preußischer Landtag''). Implementa ...

Death and burial

Seidel-Dittmarsch died of natural causes in Berlin on 20 February at the age of 47 and was succeeded as Chief of the SS-Amt by

Curt Wittje Curt Wittje, sometimes noted as Kurt Wittje (October 2, 1894, in Wandsbek- March 16, 1947) was a Nazi politician and SS-Gruppenführer. He was a member of the Reichstag and from 1934 to 1935 head of the SS- Hauptamts police office. World War I ...

. He was given a military funeral on 23 February and was buried in the

Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof (Alter Sankt-Matthäus-Kirchhof or Old St. Matthew's Churchyard) is a cemetery in Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany. It was established in 1856 by the Protestant parish of St. Matthew. It is known for its interment of the B ...

Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Te ...

. As part of

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of ...

's plans for construction of the new Reich capital, to be called

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north ...

, about a third of the cemetery was torn up in 1938–1939. Seidel-Dittmarsch's remains were among those disinterred and moved to the

Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery The Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery (german: Südwestfriedhof Stahnsdorf der Berliner Synode) is a Protestant rural cemetery in Germany. Established in 1909, the cemetery is located in the municipality of Stahnsdorf in Potsdam-Mittelmark dist ...

about 12 miles southwest of Berlin. In December 1934, the 54th SS-''

Standarte In Nazi Germany, the ''Standarte'' (pl. ''Standarten'') was a paramilitary unit of Nazi Party (NSDAP), ''Sturmabteilung'', NSKK, NSFK, and ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). Translated literally as "Regimental standard", the name refers to the flag paramili ...

'', headquartered in Landsberg an der Warthe (today,

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (; german: Landsberg an der Warthe) often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów, is a city in western Poland, on the Warta river. It is the second largest city in the Lubusz Voivodeship with 120,087 inhabitants (Dece ...

), was granted the honor title "Seidel-Dittmarsch".

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Photo of Seidel-Dittmarsch (fourth from right) in July 1933
at

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is th ...

with

(extreme left),

Viktor Lutze Viktor Lutze (28 December 1890 – 2 May 1943) was a German Nazi Party functionary and the commander of the ''Sturmabteilung'' ("SA") who succeeded Ernst Röhm as '' Stabschef'' and '' Reichsleiter''. He died from injuries received in a ca ...

(next to Himmler),

Wilhelm Schepmann __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Schepmann (17 June 1894 – 26 July 1970) was an SA general in Nazi Germany and the last ''Stabschef'' (Chief of Staff) of the Nazi Stormtroopers. Schepmann was an ''Obergruppenführer'' in the Nazi Party para-military branch ...

(left foreground),

Adolf Hühnlein Adolf Hühnlein (12 September 1881 – 18 June 1942) was a German soldier and Nazi Party (NSDAP) official. He was the '' Korpsführer'' (Corps Leader) of the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) from 1933 until his death in 1942. Early years H� ...

(middle, facing camera),

Ernst Röhm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally ...

(3rd from right)] and Josef Wagner (Gauleiter), Josef Wagner (2nd from right) from the ''Deutsches Historisches Museum'', Berlin
Photo of Seidel-Dittmarsch gravestone at Stahnsdorf
by Rolf Goetze in the ''Stadtmuseum'' Berlin Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Seidel-Dittmarsch, Siegfried 1887 births 1934 deaths German Army personnel of World War I Members of the Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany) Members of the Reichstag 1932 Members of the Reichstag 1933 Members of the Reichstag 1933–1936 Politicians from the Province of Pomerania Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class Reichswehr personnel SS-Gruppenführer Sturmabteilung officers