Pfeiffer was born in Eiringhausen, near Plettenberg in Westphalia (Germany) the only child of commercial manager Heinrich Pfeiffer and his wife Selma, née Breddermann.
From 1932 he was CEO of NSDAP Gaurechtsamt South-Westphalia and additionally in 1933 legal adviser to the Reich Labour Service District (Gau) 20B.