First released by Wilhelm Woellmer in 1911 in a bold weight, followed by schmal halbfett (bold condensed, 1912) and eng (condensed, 1913) styles. The family was completed with schraffiert (hatched, 1922) and schlank (compressed, 1926, with less open shapes) styles. The original (bold) weight and the bold condensed weights were also made in Cyrillic versions. Later taken over and cast by Schriftguss. [Wetzig 1926–40] [Reichardt 2011] Similar to Berthold’s Block series.

Also cast in Poland by the Idźkowski foundry: Their Blok series comprised three styles that appear to be adaptations of Hermes; Blok smukły (eng), ściągły (schmal halbfett), and ciężki (bold). Completed by a fourth style, Blok Apis, which is a copy of Berthold’s Enge Block. [c.1930s specimen] At least Blok ściągły was also produced for dry transfer lettering by the Polish Letraset equivalent Kalgraf.

Not to be confused with Hermes-Grotesk (Gursch).

Digital interpretations include Hermes Maia (previously known as FB Hermes), Hermes PT (ParaType, used for sample), and Creighton (Red Rooster).