von wulffen was born on april 18, 1878 in gotha as the son of german imperial army lieutenant general, gustav adolf alexander ferdinand von wulffen and his wife klara wilhelmine christiane hauff. he studied at the gymnasiums in meiningen, darmstadt and frankfurt am main, but was sent to the cadet corps, military school for boys in potsdam, in march 1891. von wulffen later attended the main cadet corps academy in berlin groß-lichterfelde and graduated in march 1897. he was commissioned second lieutenant in "infanterie-regiment “graf bose“ (1. thüringisches) nr. 31".