One of the most popular artists in the world had two different names in her life. When she was born and growing up, her name was Berta Hummel (HUM-el). But when she was an adult, she became a Catholic nun and changed her name to Maria Innocentia. Maria is a form of the name, Mary, Jesus’s mother. Innocentia (in-oh-SEN-shuh) means innocent.

What she is famous for is little statues of children. She drew pictures, then a whole shop full of workers would use her drawings to design small statues, called figurines. More about that later.

For the first part of this article—about when she was young—we’ll call her Berta. Once she becomes a nun, we’ll call her Maria.

Berta Hummel was born on May 21, 1909 in the city of Massing in Bavaria, which is in the southeast part of Germany. Her parents were Adolf and Victoria Hummel, and they had six children. Her father owned a store in the town.

At an early age, Berta was creative and good at drawing. She was a cheerful girl who liked being active. She enjoyed being outdoors and participating in winter sports. But the thing she liked most was art. Her father encouraged her to develop her artistic abilities, and when she was 12, he enrolled her in a boarding school that was about 18 miles away from their home. At the school, she was able to improve her art skills.

Berta graduated from the school six years later, but wanted to improve even more, so enrolled in the Academy of Applied Arts in the city of Munich. Instead of living in student housing, she chose to live in a Catholic house run by nuns. While there, she made friends with two members of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Siessen who were also studying at the Academy.

During her time at the Academy of Applied Arts, two feelings grew in her. One was an even greater love of art. The other was a desire to become a nun and use her talents to bless the lives of others.

In 1931, Berta graduated from the Academy with top honors. She was 22 years old. She decided to act on her goal of becoming a nun, and later that year, applied to join the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Siessen. At first, she became what is called a novice, which means beginner or trainee. In 1934, she took full vows to become a nun and her name was changed to Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel.

Maria served as an art teacher to young children. Though her duties kept her busy,  she always found time to sketch pictures of boys and girls. Her art was published in a number of different forms, including postcards.

A man named Franz Goebel (GUR-bel) was the head of a company called W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik. Porzellan means porcelain and fabrik means to make. The company made things of porcelain, which is created from a certain kind of soft clay that is covered with special coatings and then heated in extremely hot ovens, called kilns. The result is a beautiful, shiny, glass-like substance.

Mr. Goebel wanted to use drawings by Maria to create figurines of children. He got permission from the Convent of Siessen, but only if the figurines were true to Maria’s drawings and if Maria and the Convent had final approval of each figurine’s design. He agreed.

It was decided that regular porcelain was too delicate for the figurines, so a beautiful, but tougher type of porcelain was used. And thus began the manufacture of what are now world-famous and collectible Hummel figurines.

The figurines, like Maria’s drawings, show cute, sometimes ragged and sometimes mischievous boys and girls. The word that many people use to describe them is charming.

In the late 1930s in Germany, trouble was brewing. Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party were on the rise. In 1939, World War II would begin and last until 1945.

In late 1940, the Nazis took over the Convent of Siessen, forced the nuns to leave, and used the place as a camp for Germans who were returning from other countries. Around 250 nuns were made to leave, including Maria, who moved back to her parents’ home in Massing.

However, she missed the stillness and sacred nature of the Convent, so moved back to join 40 nuns who were still there. Life was very difficult for them. They were forced to work hard and there was not enough food. Maria’s room was changed from a nice, airy, sunlit place to a room in the basement, which was small, damp, and cold. The little room was both her bedroom and her artist studio.

Four years later in 1944, Maria who was tired and weak, caught tuberculosis, a serious illness that mainly affects the lungs. She improved for awhile, but had a relapse. On November 6, 1946 at age 37, she died. The day of her funeral, there was a light snowfall, which covered the earth with a lovely coat of white. After the funeral, the sun came out, making the ground sparkle.

Each year, May 21 (Maria’s birthday) is known as Sister Maria Hummel Day. Two ways you can celebrate it are to look at her work and to tell others about her.

Though some original Hummel figurines are now expensive collectibles, there are less expensive ones and plenty of inexpensive copies based on Maria’s work. Also, it is very easy to find pictures online of Maria’s drawings and of original Hummel figurines. They are so lovely, it is worth the effort to see them.

Tell others what you read here about Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel. And search online to learn more about her and her art.

Fun Facts

•  To see a large collection of real Hummels, you don’t have to fly to Europe. In New Braunfels, Texas there is a Hummel Museum. It has more than 300 original sketches by Maria and a collection of more than 1,100 Hummel figurines.

•  At the end of World War II, many U.S. soldiers brought Hummels home as gifts for their families. And that is how the figurines first became popular in our country.

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