Johann Hermann Kretzschmer was a painter and etcher of the Düsseldorf School of Painting.

Kretzschmer came to Berlin in 1829, where Wilhelm Wach taught him. From 1831 to 1837 he studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy under Wilhelm von Schadow. The first larger works were fairy tale pictures based on Theodor Hildebrandt and Eduard Steinbrück.

At the suggestion of his friend Ferdinand Freiligrath, he undertook an extensive study trip to the Mediterranean and the Middle East: In 1838 he first went to Rome and visited Sicily, Greece, Egypt and Constantinople in 1840 and 1841. He partly financed his travels with portraits of dignitaries. He attracted attention with the portrait of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I, as there had been no painting of this ruler before due to the ban on images in Islam.

In 1842 he returned to Düsseldorf, but moved to Berlin in 1845. On the basis of the sketches, collectibles and experiences he brought with him from the Orient, he created further pictures of the "ethnic genre" in the 1840s and 1850s and was sometimes referred to as the "first Berlin Orient painter". However, he soon turned to other genre painting themes. In 1856 he was appointed titular professor.

Kretzschmer was a childhood friend of the composer Otto Nicolai. He was friends with the poet Emanuel Geibel, who dedicated a sonnet to him.

Hermann Kretzschmer died in Berlin in 1890 at the age of 78 and was buried in the Old Twelve Apostles Cemetery in Schöneberg near Berlin. The grave has not been preserved.