Hermann Geiseler was born in Hamburg and after finishing school moved to Munich, where he studied at the art academy under Adolf Schinnerer. Among other things, he won the Dürer Prize of the City of Nuremberg in 1930 and had been a member of the New Secession since 1928. In 1931 some of his works were exhibited in the Glass Palace when it burned down. After the Second World Warm he campaigned in Munich for the establishment of the Seerosenpreis to promote young artists and was a founding member of the so-called Seerosenkreis, a regulars’ table for visual artists and writers in the "Seerose" bar in Schwabing, Munich.