Vincenz Zeizinger

Vincenz Zeizinger was born in Jihlava in 1873. His father, a commander of the 14th Landwehr Battalion based on a civil registry entry, died when Vincenz was seven. In Jihlava, he first trained as a bricklayer's assistant at the Vocational Advanced Training School, and he completed his studies at the Technical School in Brno between 1896 and 1899. In 1900, he passed the master bricklayer exam there and returned to his home town, where he became one of the most successful builders of the early twentieth century, alongside Kajetán Malnati, the Lang family, and Arthur Corazza.

From 1901, he worked in Jihlava as a master bricklayer. Seven years later, he obtained a master bricklayer’s licence. However, his first architectural project dates back to 1902. Zeizinger mainly designed tenement houses and villas in Jihlava as well as in nearby Šacberk (Rudný), where he designed, among other things, two villas for himself and his wife, Albine, with whom he had eleven children. The first villa, now demolished, was built in 1905, and five years later, the Zeizingers moved into a new house with a lookout tower. Zeizinger's most famous work is probably the Grandhotel at the corner of Husova and Komenského Streets with its corner turret and richly decorated Art Nouveau façade. In addition to the Art Nouveau decor, Zeizinger's architecture often features historicist elements and traditional motifs that give his buildings a vernacular character, such as timber framing or hipped roof dormers. The two approaches were combined, for example, in the now demolished Edison Cinema, which was located on Havlíčkova Street.

Zeizinger was also the building contractor for many buildings in Jihlava. The most successful period for his construction company lasted until the beginning of the First World War. After that, the company was hit by a decline in construction contracts. In 1924, Zeizinger moved the company from Jihlava to Německá Libina near Šumperk, leaving just a branch in Jihlava, which he then closed at the end of 1925. He stayed briefly in Libina, then returned to Jihlava again later. In 1938, he completely suspended his trade and registered his place of residence as Znojmo. This pre-war record is the last entry in the civil register. In 1946, he and his wife, Albine, were deported from Czechoslovakia as German citizens and he died a year later in Salzburg, Austria.

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