Hermann Schnee was born in 1840 as the son of the district magistrate Hermann Rudolph Schnee (1805-1864) in Treuenbrietzen. He studied at the Düsseldorf Academy under Oswald Achenbach (1827-1905) and Hans Fredrik Gude (1825-1903).

The artist lived and worked in Berlin and in the Harz region. In 1893 he became professor in Berlin, in 1895 he exhibited at the Große Berliner Kunstausstellung. Some of his paintings are found in the Städtische Kunstsammlung in Chemnitz and in the hunting lodge in Grunewald.