Otto Eisler was a Czech architect, noted for his contributions to International style

International style (architecture)

The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

 in architecture.

Biography

Eisler was educated at the Deutsche Technische Hochschule Brünn over the course of ten years, with a likely interruption for military service during World War I. During his studies, he worked at studios in Vienna. Upon graduation, he worked in the architectural practices of Heinrich Tessenow

Heinrich Tessenow

Heinrich Tessenow was a German architect, professor, and urban planner active in the Weimar era.-Biography:...

 and Walter Gropius

Walter Gropius

Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....

 before founding his own firm. He also took part in managing his family's business, including his brothers' (Artur, Hugo, Leo, and Moriz) construction company.

He was subject to Nazi persecution during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia

German occupation of Czechoslovakia

German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...

 because he was both Jewish and a suspected homosexual

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

. In April 1939, he was arrested by the Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

 and imprisoned in the prison at Špilberk, where he was apparently tortured. When furloughed, he fled to Norway, where he arrived on 21 February 1940. After Norway was invaded

Operation Weserübung

Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...

 by Germany, he tried to flee to Sweden but was shot and wounded only a few yards from the border, and then deported

Jewish deportees from Norway during World War II

During the Nazi occupation of Norway, German authorities deported about 768 individuals of Jewish background to concentration camps outside of Norway. 28 of these survived World War Two.-Deportation:The deportation schedule for the major transports was:...

 to Auschwitz on the SS Donau

SS Donau

SS Donau was a Norddeutscher Lloyd refrigerated cargo ship. In the Second World War the Kriegsmarine used it as a transport ship between Germany and Norway. She became known as the "slave ship" after the SS and Gestapo transported 540 Jews from Norway to Stettin, from where they were taken by...

. There he was reunited with his brother Mořic (Moriz), with whom he survived the death march

Death marches (Holocaust)

The death marches refer to the forcible movement between Autumn 1944 and late April 1945 by Nazi Germany of thousands of prisoners from German concentration camps near the war front to camps inside Germany.-General:...

 to Buchenwald.

He was liberated from Buchenwald and returned to Brno to resume his architectural career; he also took over the woodcutting business his deceased brother left to his heirs. He married his cousin Gertruda Kenderová, née Hermannová, in 1946. The family company was nationalized in 1948, and Eisler found work first in his own business, and subsequently at the Botanical Gardens of Masaryk University

Masaryk University

Masaryk University is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the third Czech university , it now consists of nine faculties and 42,182 students...

. He acted as the chairman of Brno Zoo from 1950 to 1953.

In addition to his professional interests in architecture, Eisler was also an avid painter, gardener, book collector, and horticulturist. Several works of art that were stolen by the Nazis were restored to his estate in the 2000s. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Brno.

Notable works

• Own house, Neumannova 10, 1930
• House for two brothers, Brno, 1931
• Synagogue in 13 Skořepka street, Brno, 1934 (the only remaining synagogue in Brno)
• Synagogue, Uherský Brod, 1946
• Brno zoo, 1949–1966