Born shortly after the end of World War II to a farmer and winemaker family on the then rural outskirts of the capital of the former Württemberg (today Baden-Württemberg), Stuttgart, Raff studied history and Protestant Theology at the renowned Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (the former State University of Württemberg).
Raff donates all revenues and royalties from his lectures and publications to charitable causes, especially, but not exclusively, in the field of preservation of sites of historical interest, e.g. for a pilgrim's hostel on the Way of St. James at La Faba or for the restoration of Ulm Minster.
Hie gut Wirtemberg allewege I: Das Haus Württemberg von Graf Ulrich dem Stifter bis Herzog Ludwig.
Mit den Linien Stuttgart, Mömpelgard, Weiltingen, Neuenbürg, Neuenstadt am Kocher und Oels in Schlesien, Degerloch 1993 Hie gut Wirtemberg allewege III: Das Haus Württemberg von Herzog Wilhelm Ludwig bis Herzog Friedrich Karl.
Degerloch 2002 Chronik der Stadt Stuttgart 1954–1960 (Stuttgart City Chronicle) Herr, schmeiß Hirn ra!, 1985 Mehr Hirn!, 1995, mit Illustrationen von Loriot Raffs Raritäten, 1998 Die schwäbische Geschichte, 2000 (Swabian History) Eiserne Ration für furchtlose und treue Württemberger, 2003