Born in Greifswald, Ludwig Hermann studied the art of painting under the guidance of Johann Gottfried Schadow at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. He exhibited for the first time in 1836. In the 1830s, he became a pupil of Eugène Isabey and Eugène Lepoittevn in Paris.

Hermann is well recorded for his urban and sea landscapes, which he captured both in summer and in winter. His works show an influence of the romantic school, especially by Barend Cornelis Koekkoek.