Louis XIV

"A Latin phrase teaches us that "Words fly away, writings remain". Thus, the original document of Thierry Hermès' birth certificate is carefully preserved in the municipal archives of Krefeld. But a birth certificate can unfortunately also be a source of misunderstandings, a real linguistic trap for anyone interested in the history of the Hermes/ Hermès family. Unaware of primary sources, one might well imagine that the ancestors of Thierry Hermès were French, but this is not the case since extensive research on this family has revealed a specifically German lineage, the surname Hermes being quite common in the entire region of Krefeld and this since the 17th century. The result? It is frequently asserted, without providing the slightest proof, that Thierry Hermès not only had French ancestors, but also that they were Huguenots, French Protestants who took refuge in Germany after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by Louis XIV, which gives an aura to a young Prussian saddler who emigrated to France in 1821."

"In 1829, the small town welcomes not a tourist, but a saddler-cum-harness-maker who came for specifically professional reasons, hoping to perfect his knowledge, so to speak, in the techniques of leather work. Indeed, Pont-Audemer, crossed by the Risle and secondary canals, enjoys a reputation for the importance and quality of its tanneries and leather factories which date back to the 17th century, a time when tanners and curriers were the suppliers of Louis XIV's armies."