 Scharff's father, a Prussian Army officer before and during the First World War, died in 1917 in Wiesbaden from wounds received during World War I on the Western Front in France in July 1916.He was the recipient of the Iron Cross (I and II Class), the Reuss Cross, and the Hanseatic Cross, "all for bravery in combat," of which his son was immensely proud.Scharff's mother was the daughter of one of the founders of one of the largest textile mills in Germany.