[4] It was Herrmann who supervised his doctorate, which he received at Bern in 1912 for a piece of work on "The role of comportment in eighteenth century theatre" ("Das Rollenfach im deutschen Theaterbetrieb des 18.
In addition to theatrical critiques he became known for his essays, travel reports and light-hearted opinion pieces ("scherzhafte Feuilletons").
It has been described as his most significant work, still relevant as a dramaturgy of expressionism, not simply a random set of theatre reviews, but a fundamental unmasking and critique of the spirit of the age (..."die noch|heute gültige Dramaturgie des Expressionismus, nicht etwa eine Sammlung von Theaterreferaten, sondern eine grundlegende Klärung und Kritik des Zeitgeistes.").
[3] Following the successful Nazi power-grab at the start of 1933 he wrote in support of the restrictive cultural policies implemented by Joseph Goebbels on behalf of the new regime.
[4] Journalistic contributions continued, now appearing in Swiss papers such as the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Die Tat and Basler Nationalzeitung, but the volume of his journalism diminished as he set about professional diversification.
[7] He also applied himself as a prose writer, publishing in 1938 an 840 page novel, "Das Reich ohne Mitte", which dealt with the failure of the political centre in Germany.