Hans Herrmann was born on 23 February 1928. He completed training as a confectioner, intending to later take over his mother’s café. However, this did not come to pass, as his talent and passion lay in motorsport. In 1952, the Stuttgart native started his first circuit race at the Nürburgring in a Porsche 356. He won. The following year, he achieved a class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 550 Coupé. Also in 1953, Herrmann claimed the title of German Sports Car Champion. Mercedes-Benz then recruited him for their factory team, making him a colleague of Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, and Karl Kling. In 1954, Herrmann continued to race for Porsche in smaller displacement classes and won class victories in the 550 Spyder at the Carrera Panamericana and the Mille Miglia. The Mille Miglia is remembered for a particularly breathtaking moment: Herrmann drove the open mid-engine sports car under a closing railway barrier. He later captioned the image as a postcard with the words: “You have to be lucky.”