Hermann Giesler (2 April 1898 – 20 January 1987) was a German architect during the Nazi era, one of the two architects most favoured and rewarded by Adolf Hitler (the other being Albert Speer).
Life through World War II
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 , 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. 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.