On the Petrograd side stands an elegant building in the style of Northern Modernism — the revenue house of second guild merchant Herman Eilers. In 1913, it was specially built for the merchant and his family. Eilers was the owner of an entire floral empire in the city; his shops were even mentioned in the poems of Mayakovsky and Agnitsev, and almost a century later, the house, thanks to its unusual appearance, was featured in the films "Unfinished Story" and "Brother."
The architect Fyodor Lidval participated in the development of the building’s project; he was the husband of Eilers’ daughter, Margaret. The house itself was built by Margaret’s brother, Konstantin Germanovich Eilers, who was also an architect. In collaboration with Lidval, he not only created the building on Rentgen Street but also took part in the construction of the Astoria Hotel.
Herman Eilers was born in Germany and was invited to Petersburg as a gardener to the Yusupov Palace. Eventually, he became a citizen with Russian nationality, created the largest network of flower shops, became a board member of the Imperial Russian Society of Gardening, and a supplier to the court of the Prince of Wales, as well as engaged in public activities — he founded the "Help for the Poor" fund.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Petersburg was enveloped by a network of Eilers’ flower shops. The most famous among them was the outlet at 30 Nevsky Prospect. It was this shop that poet Nikolai Agnitsev wrote about in his poem "A Bouquet from Eilers." His shop was also mentioned in Vladimir Mayakovsky’s work "Two Not Quite Ordinary Cases."
A bouquet from Eilers! Do you hear the tune
Of these two words, alas, soon to ring out?
A bouquet from Eilers, the one opposite
The multi-columned Kazan Cathedral!..
(N. Agnitsev, 1923)
The Eilers house is located on a street formerly called Liceyskaya. It was laid out in the 1880s from Kamennoostrovsky Prospect to Lev Tolstoy Street. It got its name thanks to the Alexandrovsky Imperial (formerly Tsarskoye Selo) Lyceum located here. After the death of the famous German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Wilhelm Röntgen, in 1923 the street was renamed in his honor.
From the outside, the gray building is currently in good condition: the stucco and statues have been preserved. Inside, one can find tiles in the entrance hall and stained glass on some windows, as well as old metal windows. The house on Rentgen Street has been protected by the state since 2001. Its legal status is a recognized monument.
Sources:
https://www.fiesta.ru/projects/secretentrance/elegantnyy-dom-eylersa-byvshie-vladeniya-tsvetochnogo-magnata/
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Доходный_дом_Эйлерса
