Background
Hermes was born in Königsberg and was educated at the Kneiphöfischen Gymnasium.
Hermes was born in Königsberg and was educated at the Kneiphöfischen Gymnasium.
After completing his secondary education, he studied mathematics from 1866 to 1870, mostly in Königsberg.
He undertook his Abitur (final examination) at the school in 1866. His studies were interrupted due to his participation in the Franco-Prussian War between 1870–1871, but he was able to complete his studies on December 14, 1872 with a professional degree in mathematics. He received a doctorate on April 5, 1879 for his dissertation on the "Reduction of the problem of cyclotomy on linear equations (for prime numbers of the form 2m+1)" (German: "Zurückführung des Problems der Kreistheilung auf lineare Gleichungen (für Primzahlen von der Form 2m+1)").
Beginning in 1883 he was an Oberlehrer (or upper teacher).
In 1893 he became a professor at the Georgianum Gymnasium in Lingen. Finally, on April 1, 1899, he became a professor and director at the Osnabrück Realgymnasium (now named the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Gymnasium).
On December 31, 1906 he asked for an early retirement from his position due to illness. Hermes died in Bad Oeynhausen on June 8, 1912.
He was buried in Osnabrück on June 12.