Compars Herrmann

“The Great Herrmann”

Compars Herrmann was considered the greatest magician of his time. He is largely credited for the Mephistophelean look of black goatee and devilish eyebrows associated with stage magicians and still copied by conjurors to this day. After turning over his magician’s mantle to Alexander, Compars retired to Europe; but the panic of 1873 ruined him financially and he was forced to return to the stage, thus becoming a competitor to his much younger brother. In order to preserve their relationship, they divided the world, with Alexander taking the Americas and Compars, Europe. Compars Herrmann died in Karlsbad, Germany in 1887. While the two brothers had their differences, nothing in the Herrmann family history indicates Compars was anything like as evil as the villain of Magic Words.