Alexander Herrmann

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Alexander Herrmann (February 11, 1844 – December 11, 1896) was a German magician, better known as The Great Herrmann.

Alexander was born in Paris to Carl Herrmann, a physician who occasionally performed throughout Europe as a conjuror. Alexander's brother Carl Herrmann (1816 – 1887) left medical school at an early age to pursue a career as a magician and served as a role model and inspiration for Alexander.

Alexander joined his brother's stage show at the age of eight and the brothers toured the world together. Eventually they would go their separate ways, Carl returning to Europe and Alexander to America where he became a naturalized citizen in 1876. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, Alexander and his wife Adelaide Herrmann (née Scarcez; 1854 – 1932) performed together in elaborate stage shows. The pair adapted Robert Houdin's Aerial Suspension routine and performed their own version of the bullet catch.

When Herrmann died from heart failure in 1896, Adelaide continued performing her husband's illusions. She was joined by Alexander's nephew, Leon Herrmann (1867 – 1909). Even after Leon's death, Madame Herrmann continued to perform until the age of seventy-five in dramatic and lavish shows which had become the hallmark of the Herrmann name.