Born in Katowice in 1933, Marian Herda played ice hockey for Górnik and Gwardia in the years that followed the end of World War II. With the Polish national team Herda played in 12 matches and was part of the squad that competed at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics. Later the same year, however, he defected to West Germany during a tour of the country with Gwardia. Now living in Krefeld, he continued his ice hockey career with KTSV Preussen, representing the side from 1957 to 1971, before playing a couple of seasons with Grefrather EC. Following his retirement there were some claims that Herda had been killed in car accident but these turned out to be false, with him living in Germany for more than 50 years.
Poland