Who Was Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel?

At CollectorsLine, we carry only the finest collectible figurines. We are delighted to present the beautiful M.I. Hummel line created by the Goebel Company.

The Hummel line is the result of a collaboration between German company Goebel, one of the most respected manufacturers of decorative porcelain, and a Bavarian woman named Berta Hummel. Born in 1909 to a poor family that included six siblings, Berta showed signs of artistic talent from a young age, sketching things she observed in her everyday life. She enjoyed creating cards with her drawings on them for friends and family. By age six, she had begun a strict Catholic education in her hometown鈥檚 one-room schoolhouse, where a teacher eventually noticed her beautiful drawings.

By the time Berta turned twelve, her family had saved enough money to send her to a boarding school where she could receive a formal education in the arts. Throughout her teen years, she refined her natural artistic talent and learned how to work with pastels and watercolor paints. By the time she had completed her secondary education at age 18, she had proven herself to be an extremely talented and promising young artist, so she went to the Munich Academy of Fine Arts to continue her studies.

At the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, Berta studied a comprehensive array of artistic styles, from fashion design to anatomy. However, her favorite means of artistic expression was still her sketches of children at work and play. In addition to receiving a valuable arts education, she met two Franciscan Sisters with whom she soon became close friends. Their spiritual way of life appealed to her, and upon graduation she turned down a teaching offer to begin her adult life as a nun at the Convent at Siessen under the name Sister Maria Innocentia.

Fortunately for Hummel collectors, this did not mark the end of her artistic career. Two of her tasks at the convent included painting religious scenes and teaching at a nearby school. Inspired by both, she began painting portraits of the children, and soon the convent realized the value of her artistic gift and started publishing her artwork on small post cards, which they sold to help support the Sisters. Berta鈥檚 beautiful illustrations of the joy and innocence of childhood were just as popular with the public as with the parents of the children she taught. Soon, the fine porcelain maker Franz Goebel noticed her cards and realized that they could be the basis for a beautiful line of figurines.

Goebel approached Sister Hummel and the convent. They liked his idea, but realized that problems could come up. Sister Hummel worked on paper, after all, so it would be necessary for sculptors to interpret her illustrations and use them for inspiration for a three-dimensional final product. They reached an agreement and in 1935 they finalized the contract, and the line of M.I. Hummel figurines was born.

Though Sister Hummel sadly passed away a few years later, the artistry of her images lives on in each Hummel figurine. The Goebel Company uses the large collection of artwork that she left behind as the foundation for every Hummel design, ensuring that her artistic legacy and ability to capture the sweet whimsicality of childhood lives on in each figurine.

CollectorsLine is pleased to offer a beautiful selection of M.I. Hummel collectible figurines that will delight any collector! Please visit our eBay Store, CollectorsLine, for a wonderful selection of Hummel collectible figurines, great selection, and wonderful service!