 He was a member of the Ezzonian dynasty.Herman's younger brother Otto became Duke of Swabia in 1045; among his sisters were Richeza, who married the Polish King Mieszko II Lambert, and Theophanu, Abbess of Essen.Pope Benedict IX elevated him to the College of Cardinals around 1036, at the same time the Salian Emperor Conrad II appointed him Archbishop and granted important privileges to the Church in Cologne.