The World Cup leader had a 0.15 second advantage over Austria's Janine Flock after the first two runs of the competition yesterday.

She extended the margin to 0.26 after clocking a time of 54.04sec in her first effort of the day.

It moved her to the brink of becoming the first German since Marion Thees in 2011 to win the title.

Hermann achieved the feat by posting another run of 54.12, to finish with a combined time of 3min 36.50sec.

Two-time European champion Flock secured the host country's  first women’s skeleton medal at the Championships by ending in 3:36.96.

Russia’s Elena Nikitina finished in 3:37.09 to complete the podium.

“What an amazing feeling, I can’t really believe I did it,” said 23-year-old Hermann.

“Of course I was nervous before the fourth run, especially because I’d heard the crowds cheering Janine.

“But I knew I could do it, after all, I’ve got a track record here.”

Germany look on course to claim further medals at their four-man bobsleigh teams lie first and second at the halfway stage of their event.

Two-man bobsleigh world champion Francesco Friedrich has piloted his team-mates Candy Bauer, Gregor Bermbach and Thorsten Margis to the top of the standings after clocking 1:41.73 for the first two runs.

The second German team, led by Nico Walther, are 0.27 off the pace in second.

Russia currently occupy the final podium place, but have a narrow 0.02 advantage over the British crew heading into the final day of competition.