Hermann Giesler

• Name — Hermann Giesler • Born — 2 April 1898 • Birthplace — Seigen, Prussia, German Empire • Died — 20 January 1987 (age 88) • Place of death — Düsseldorf, West Germany • Relatives — Paul Giesler (brother) • Party — Nazi Party • Occupation — Architect • Alma Mater — Technical University of Munich • Allegiance — German Empire • Branch — Imperial German Army • Service Years — 1915–1918 • Battles — World War I

Hermann Giesler was born in Siegen and was the younger brother of Paul Giesler who later would become a Gauleiter of the Nazi Party. He served in the First World War from 1915 to 1918 as a soldier in the Imperial German Army. He then worked as a bricklayer, carpenter and metalworker. He studied architecture at the Academy for Applied Arts in Munich (1919 to 1923) and at the Technical University of Munich. Starting from 1930, he worked as an independent architect. In 1933, he became master of building of districts in Sonthofen and, in 1937, became a professor. On 1 October 1931, Giesler joined the Nazi Party (membership number 622,515). He was an early and enthusiastic Nazi. Up to 1938, he designed the "Ordensburg" in Sonthofen; planned Gau Forums in Weimar and Augsburg; and the "university" for the NSDAP at Chiemsee. In addition, he was commissioned to build Hitler's house in Munich. In 1938, he restored the Hotel Elephant, a 400-year-old Weimar inn. In December 1938, he was appointed by Hitler "General Building Inspector" for the reorganization of the city of Munich. Later, he also became a director in the Organisation Todt, then one of the directors of the Group of Works of VI (Bavaria, Donaugaue). Starting in 1941, after fellow architect Roderich Fick fell out of political favour, Giesler was entrusted by Hitler with the reorganization of the entire city of Linz. Beginning from 1942, he worked on plans and a large model for the Danube Development of the Banks. In August 1943, Giesler was appointed as a deputy to the Reichstag for electoral constituency 2 (Berlin-West. Starting from 1944, he also worked on designs for the cultural center, which Hitler regarded with particular interest. Giesler joined the Organisation Todt (OT) in 1941 as head of the eponymous "Construction Group Giesler" in the Baltic States, as head of the OT-Einsatzgruppe Russia North (1942–1944), and as director of the OT-Einsatzgruppe VI (Bayern und Danube Gaue). He was responsible for the construction management of the Weingut I, an underground armaments production facility, which was built by concentration camp prisoners (1944–1945). Throughout the war, Giesler and Speer had several heated arguments about architectural styles. In September 1944, Giesler was named one of the Reich's most important artists in the Gottbegnadeten list.

In 1945, Giesler initially was arrested by the U.S. military and interned as a Nazi, and charged in 1946. In 1947, he was indicted by a U.S. military court for war crimes in the concentration camp Mühldorf, a subcamp of Dachau. Giesler was sentenced to life imprisonment, but on 6 May 1948 his sentence was reduced to 25 years imprisonment. On 7 July 1951, it was lowered once again to twelve years. Giesler was freed on 18 October 1952. He settled in Düsseldorf, where he worked in 1953 as an independent architect and author. Giesler never renounced his Nazism. He published autobiographical writings, which appeared both in right-wing publishers (see below), as a commitment to Nazism and Adolf Hitler. Giesler wrote Ein anderer Hitler (Another Hitler), a personal memoir about his relationship with the dictator. He died in 1987.