Erich Werdermann was a German botanist.
Born in Berlin, Erich Werdermann was the son of the landowner Carl Werdermann. He first studied in Jena, but then switched to Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. In 1914 shortly before his graduation, Werdermann was enlisted in the army and in 1915 promoted to the rank of officer. After recovering from serious wounds suffered in 1918, he was able to continue his studies. The following year Werdermann graduated as a plant physiologist at Gottlieb Haberlandt. From 1919 to 1920 he worked at the Imperial Biological Institute in Berlin, where Peter Claussen sparked his interest in fungi. From 1920 to 1921, Mann was a research assistant at the Imperial Health Office with Ernst Friedrich Gilg, who introduced him to the Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem. In 1921, he succeeded Rudolf Schlechter as the curator of mushrooms in the herbarium of the museum.
In 1923 Werdermann began a four-year research trip to Chile and neighboring countries. After his return he succeeded Friedrich Vaupel as curator of the Botanical Garden and took care of cacti and other succulents in the herbarium.