According to Egon Kimpen he was the son of
Henry I of Lotharingia († 1061) and Mathild of Verdun († 1060), daughter of
Gozelo I of Lotharingia, but the basis for this has been questioned. However, if that is the case, his maternal uncle was
Pope Stephen IX. Until 1064, young Hermann was under the guardianship of
Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne, who significantly reduced Hermann's territorial power. In 1080 he married
Adelaide of Weimar-Orlamünde († 1100), widow of
Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt. She was a daughter of
Otto of Orlamünde, count of Weimar and
margrave of Meissen in
Thuringia, and Adela of Brabant. Together they had two children who had died by 1085. He is assumed to have been the last
Count Palatine of Lotharingia of the
Ezzonian dynasty. He was seriously injured in a duel with
Albert III, Count of Namur, near his castle in
Dalhem. He died in the abbey of Echternach on September 20, 1085. His widow married again, her third husband being
Henry of Laach, count in the Mayfeldgau, who became the first
count palatine of the Rhine between 1085 and 1087. ==References==