Philipp Wolfrum, born in Schwarzenbach am Wald (Bavaria) was the son of the cantor and teacher Johann Heinrich Wolfrum. At a young age, he learned to play the organ and represented his father, at the age of nine, on the organ. After his secondary education, at the Königlichen Lehrerseminar in Altdorf, close to Nürnberg and with important musicians of his time, he returned to Bamberg as a conductor, soloist and composer in 1878. In 1884, he was appointed to the University of Heidelberg where he constructed a comprehensive church music education for Baden theologians and initiated an active public musical life in the city. Today's Academy for Church Music in Heidelberg is a testimony to his efforts. He died on May 8, 1919 while in health treatment in Samedan / Upper Engadine (Switzerland).