His father's family was of Italian and Slovene origin, their original surname was Kopriva and they originated from Koprivnik (Nesseltal) near Kočevje in the Kočevski Rog (Hornwald) region of Lower Carniola (present-day Slovenia).
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The treaty also gave Germany the Caprivi Strip, which was added to German South West Africa, thus linking that territory with the Zambezi River, which he had hoped to use for trade and communications with eastern Africa (the river proved to be unnavigable).
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The Caprivis were ennobled during the 17th century Ottoman–Habsburg wars, they later moved to Landau in Silesia.
He had personally played a leading part in the defensive campaign of the Imperial Chancellor, Leo von Caprivi, and the Foreign Secretary, Adolf Marschall von Bieberstein, in the early 1890s, against the Bismarckian opposition.
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On 22 April 1890, Hollmann became a member of the Federal Council (Bundesrat, upper house of the Parliament) and State Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office (Reichsmarineamt) in the cabinet of Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, following the resignation of Karl Eduard Heusner.
From 1884 to 1887 he served 2.5 years as chief of staff of the German Imperial Admiralty (Kaiserliche Admiralität), then headed by Admiral und General der Infanterie Leo von Caprivi.