Maria Innocentia Hummel (born Berta Hummel; 21 May 1909 – 6 November 1946) was a German Franciscan sister and artist. She is noted for her paintings which were the basis for

Hummel figurines Hummel figurines (also known as M.I. Hummel figurines or simply Hummels) are a series of porcelain figurines based on the drawings of Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel, O.S.F. History The sketch art of Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel began to appea ...

Early life

Born in

Massing, Germany Massing is a municipality in the district of Rottal-Inn in Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the larges ...

, as Berta Hummel, one of the six children of Adolf and Victoria Hummel, living above her father's

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...

store. As a child Berta showed creative talent, and developed a reputation in the village as the local artist. She was a cheerful, active girl, who loved the outdoors and winter sports. Her father encouraged her artistic talents and, at age 12, enrolled her in a boarding school of the

Sisters of Loreto The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The cong ...

Simbach am Inn Simbach am Inn ( en, Simbach on the Inn) is a town on the river Inn in the Rottal-Inn district of Bavaria, Germany. The Austrian city Braunau am Inn lies on the opposite side of the river from Simbach. History Simbach was one of the first places ...

, about 30 kilometres away. Hummel continued to grow in her abilities, and after graduation in 1927 she enrolled in the prestigious Academy of Applied Arts in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, where her talent and skills developed. Hummel was a devout Catholic and instead of the standard student housing, she chose to live in a Catholic residence run by religious sisters. While living there, she made friends with two members of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Siessen (Sießen) in

Bad Saulgau Bad Saulgau is a town in the district of Sigmaringen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 23 km east of Sigmaringen, and 27 km north of Ravensburg between the Danube and Lake Constance. Geography Bad Saulgau is located no ...

who were also studying at the Academy. The

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of relig ...

focuses on teaching, and gives great emphasis to the role of art in education. After Berta graduated in 1931 with top honors, she chose to follow a

religious calling A calling, in the religious sense of the word, is a religious vocation (which comes from the Latin for "call") that may be professional or voluntary and, idiosyncratic to different religions, may come from another person, from a divine messenger, ...

that she had felt for some time and applied to enter that congregation, and was admitted in April 1931 as a postulant. Berta made one final visit to her family home in late May, spending two weeks with them. On 22 August, she was admitted as a

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

and received the

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...

of the congregation and the

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...

Maria Innocentia.

Life in the convent and as an artist

After completing her

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

year, Hummel was assigned to teach art in a nearby school run by the convent. Though her days were busy teaching, Hummel spent her spare time painting pictures of children. The sisters were impressed with her art and sent copies to Emil Fink Verlag, a

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

in Stuttgart which specialized in religious art, to which Hummel reluctantly agreed. The company decided to release copies of the works in

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as woo ...

form, which were popular in the early 20th century. In 1934, it also published a collection of her drawings, titled ''Das Hummel-Buch'', with poetic text by the Austrian writer Margarete Seemann. Soon afterward, Franz Goebel, the owner of a

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

company, was looking for a new line of artwork, and happened to see some of these postcards in a shop in

. Hummel agreed, mostly for its saving the employment of many workers, and the convent granted him sole rights to make figurines based on her art. Interest in the figurines increased after they were displayed in 1935 at the

Leipzig Trade Fair The Leipzig Trade Fair (german: Leipziger Messe) is a major trade fair, which traces its roots back for nearly a millennium. After the Second World War, Leipzig fell within the territory of East Germany, whereupon the Leipzig Trade Fair became o ...

, a major international

trade show A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...

. A decade later, the figurines would gain popularity in the United States when returning American soldiers brought them home. In 1937, two events in Hummel's life were to mark her future. On 30 August, she made her final

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully '' professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted b ...

as a permanent member of the Congregation. Also, she had released a painting titled "The Volunteers", which drew the enduring hatred of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

, who attacked the art, denouncing the depiction of German children with "

hydrocephalic Hydrocephalus is a condition in which an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) occurs within the brain. This typically causes increased pressure inside the skull. Older people may have headaches, double vision, poor balance, urinary incon ...

heads". Although the Nazi authorities allowed Hummel to work, they banned the distribution of her art in Germany. One Nazi magazine, the ''SA Man'' (issue of 23 March 1937), wrote of her work: Significantly, Hummel also drew sketches that contained the

Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

, a dangerous theme in those times. She portrayed angels in gowns covered with slightly skewed six-pointed stars. She also designed a series of

Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

and

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

symbols for the convent chapel in 1938–39. She symbolized the juncture of the two Testaments by designing a cross with a menorah before it.

Wartime suffering and death

In 1940, the

Nazi government The government of Nazi Germany was totalitarian, run by the Nazi Party in Germany according to the Führerprinzip through the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany began with the fact that the Enabling Act was enacted to give Hitler's gover ...

closed all religious schools, including those of Siessen. Later that year, it seized the convent itself, forcing most of the community to leave. Out of a community of some 250 sisters, the 40 sisters who were allowed to remain were confined to a small section of the convent, living there without heat and without any means to support themselves. Hummel returned to her family at this time, but within three months so missed community life that she asked to be allowed to return. The

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

, Mother Augustine, OSF, allowed her to do so. Hummel was given a small cell which served as both sleeping quarters and her studio. The Nazis took half of the money generated by her work, but the remaining funds were the main source of income of the sisters there. Food was scarce and it was very cold in the winter. Mother Augustine later wrote of that period, "What we suffered was indescribable". Hummel was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

in 1944 and was sent twice to a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

Isny im Allgäu Isny im Allgäu ( Low Alemannic: ''Isny im Allgai'') is a town in south-eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of the district of Ravensburg, in the western, Württembergish part of the Allgäu region. Isny was a Free Imperial City (' ...

. She returned to the convent after five months, just before the region was liberated by the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

. She did not recover, and died on 6 November 1946, aged 37. She was buried in the convent cemetery.

Legacy

Goebel, his team of artists, and a board of sisters from the convent carried on her legacy through the figurines, all of which were based on her artwork. Goebel Germany discontinued the figures in October 2008. Innocentia's sister, Centa Hummel, established the Berta Hummel Museum in the family home in Massing. Centa died September 2011, just before her 100th birthday, and the management of the museum passed to her son. One of the children depicted in her work, Sieglinde Schoen, established The Hummel Museum in

New Braunfels New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas known for its German Texan heritage. It is the seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 Census. A suburb just north ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, in the United States, which displayed about 280 of Hummel's original pieces. These pieces had been stored in Switzerland by a private collector during the War. The museum discontinued as a venue of Hummel's work in 2001. The first mayor of

Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,202. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that. Whi ...

, Donald E. Stephens, amassed one of the largest collections of figurines in the world. Upon his death, he

bequeathed A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...

the entire collection to the City of Rosemont. To house it, the city built the Donald E. Stephens Museum of Hummels, which opened 13 March 2011.Journal Online "Rosemont's Hummel Museum Opens"
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References

External links