Marc Eidlitz (21 January 1826 – 15 April 1892) was a builder active in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, where he was prominent in the construction industry, in partnership with his son Otto Eidlitz (1860–1928).
Biography

Marc was born Markus to a Jewish family in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
,
Bohemia. He emigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
in 1846 with his mother Judith Eidlitz after the death of his father Abraham. Having served a four-year apprenticeship, he set up in business for himself in 1852 - the year of his marriage - and founded the construction firm, Marc Eidlitz & Son in New York City.
The firm built the
St. Regis Hotel
St. Regis Hotels & Resorts is a luxury hotel chain owned and managed by Marriott International.
History
In 1904, John Jacob Astor built the St. Regis New York as a sister property to his part-owned Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Exhibiting luxury and ...
and many other projects. Through his influence, the Masons Builders' Association of New York played a major role in founding the
National Association of Builders. In New York, he was President of the Building Trades' Club and of the Germanic Savings Bank.
Eidlitz made his home at 123
East 72nd Street, where he died. He had four sons and a daughter. His son Otto Eidlitz took over the business after he died. His brother
Leopold Eidlitz
Leopold Eidlitz (March 10, 1823, Prague, Bohemia – March 22, 1908, New York City) was a prominent New York architect best known for his work on the New York State Capitol (Albany, New York, 1876–1881), as well as "Iranistan" (1848), P. T. Bar ...
was a well-known architect, as was Leopold's son,
Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz
Cyrus Lazelle Warner Eidlitz (July 27, 1853 – October 5, 1921) was an American architect best known for designing One Times Square, the former New York Times Building on Times Square. He is founder of the architecture firm presently known a ...
. Marc converted to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and kept close ties to the German immigrant community, becoming president of Germania Bank in 1888.
[Kathryn E. Hollida]
''Leopold Eidlitz: Architecture and Idealism in the Gilded Age.''
New York: W. W. Norton, 2008, pp. 29–30, 69
Selected commercial commissions

The following structures erected by Eidlitz were all in New York City, unless otherwise identified.
*A mission on 20th Street, commissioned by
William Colgate
William Colgate (January 25, 1783 – March 25, 1857) was an English-American soap industrialist who founded in 1806 what became the Colgate-Palmolive company.
Early life
William Colgate was born in Hollingbourne, Kent, England, on January 25, ...
*
Broadway Tabernacle
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
(1857–58)
*
Lord and Taylor Building, Broadway and Grand Street
*The German Hospital (now
Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many univ ...
at another site)
*
Saint Vincent's Hospital
*Home of the Sisters of Bon Secours
*Church of the Incarnation, Madison Avenue and 35th Street
*
Temple Emanu-El, former building at Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street
*St. George's clergy house, 16th Street
*
Astor Library
The Astor Library was a free public library in the East Village, Manhattan, developed primarily through the collaboration of New York City merchant John Jacob Astor and New England educator and bibliographer Joseph Cogswell. It was primarily me ...
*
Steinway Hall
Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities such ...
*Gallatin Bank
*
Metropolitan Opera House (
J. Cleaveland Cady, architect, 1883)
*
Seamen's Savings Bank
*Eagle Fire Insurance Company
*
Schermerhorn Building, 376
Lafayette Street
Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...
(
Henry J. Hardenbergh, architect, 1889)
*Astor Building
*Eden Musée
*Western Electric Building
*Lancashire Fire Insurance Company
*
Empire Building, Broadway and Rector Street
*
Germania Bank Building, 190 Bowery (
Robert Maynicke, architect, 1898)
Private dwellings
*
J. Pierpont Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
House
*
Ogden Goelet
Ogden Goelet (June 11, 1851 New York City – August 27, 1897 Cowes, Isle of Wight) was an American heir, businessman and yachtsman from New York City during the Gilded Age. With his wife, he built Ochre Court in Newport, Rhode Island, his son ...
House
*Rober L. Stuart House
Further reading
Kathryn Holliday, ''Leopold Eidlitz: Architecture and Idealism in the Gilded Age'' (New York: W.W. Norton, 2008)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eidlitz, Marc
19th-century American people
19th-century Czech people
Austro-Hungarian Jews
Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
Businesspeople from Prague
1826 births
1892 deaths
American real estate businesspeople
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism
American Roman Catholics
19th-century American businesspeople