Born Gostyń, Stiller studied at the Bauakademie and was there, among other things, a pupil of Friedrich Adler. He received the State Prize of the Academy in 1875[1] – presumably for his Entwurf zu einer Kunst-Academie.[2] He used the associated bonus for a study trip to Italy in 1876/77.[2][3] Between 1878 and 1880, he worked under Wilhelm von Mörner on the planning and execution of the new building for the Reichsjustizamt in Berlin, Voßstraße 4/5.[3] He then took part in the recording of the excavations in Pergamon,[3] where he worked on the Trajaneum [de]. In 1882, he became director of the Kunsthochschule Kassel, and from 1884 to 1903, he was the first director of the newly founded Kunstgewerbeschule Düsseldorf. He then settled in Cologne as an independent architect.
Stiller was a member of the Architekten- und Ingenieurverein Düsseldorf, where he served as chairman in 1893[4] and at times served as Vice-Chairman.[5] After moving to Cologne, he transferred to the local Architekten und Ingenieur-Verein für Niederrhein und Westfalen.[6] He became a member of the Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA), and the local group of the BDA in Cologne later appointed him an honorary member.[1]
Stiller was married to Erminia née Bumiller. Their common daughter Maria married the composer and conductor Rudolf Siegel and was the mother of the composer Ralph Maria Siegel [de].[7]
^ abcHermann-Bröckelschen-Stiftung (ed.): Chronik der Ausgrabung von Pergamon 1871–1886. Aus Berichten und Briefen des Humann-Kreises. Ardey-Verlag, Dortmund 1963, p. 62.
^Architekten-Verein. Vorsitzender: Professor H. StillerIn Adressbuch der Stadt Düsseldorf, 1893, Vereine p. 789 (uni-duesseldorf.de)
Hans-Peter Schwanke: Baumeister aus Leidenschaft und die Renaissance zum Vorbild. Leben und Werk des Architekten Hermann Stiller unter besonderer Berücksichtigung seiner Krefelder Bauten. In Die Heimat. Krefelder Jahrbuch. 67, 1996, pp. 139–162.