Maria Innocentia
Berta Hummel
Franciscan Sister and Artist
Only to very few people it is known that the world famous Hummel figures are based on the paintings and sketches of a Franciscan sister of the Convent in Sießen.
Maria Innocentia Berta Hummel was born 1909 in Massing, a small town in the South of Bavaria. In the rural surroundings of her Bavarian homeland she had a happy childhood, together with her 5 brothers and sisters.Through painting and theatre playing her lively imagination found many occasions to be expressed.
Early in life her artistic talent was known and promoted.
Her parents made it possible for her to study at the art's academy in Munich.
Her manifold talent can be seen in different kinds of art work: portraits, drawings, paintings with watercolours or oil, nature studies, wood carving and textile work ...
A promising career as an artist lay before her. But she decided to become a Franciscan sister. After a very good final exam of her studies she joined the Order of the Franciscan Sisters of Siessen in spring 1931.
At the clothing ceremony she received the religious name Sr. Maria Innocentia.
She left her art work behind, but in another way she found it again in a new and deeper way:
In the school and in the department for liturgical vestments, in many paintings for children and in religious art, wherefore she used pastel or painted in oils.
The children paintings which were done during her time in the convent and which spread the name of Hummel throughout the world, reflect the joyfulness of her own days as a child.
Since 1935 her drawings were used as a base for the "Hummel figurines", which were designed by the W. Goebel porcelain factory in Rödental.
"I want to give joy and happiness", she wrote in her diary. In this sense she is present to us in her work even today.
Like Francis of Assisi she enjoyed creation; trees, flowers and animals are surrounding her children.
Like Francis of Assisi she enjoyed creation; trees, flowers and animals surround her children.
Like Francis she was touched by the humility of God, as it is shown in the incarnation.
Again and again she modelled and painted the child of Bethlehem.
She was fascinated by Mary, his mother, by her joy in her son, by her faithfulness towards him even when she couldn't understand his ways.
Like Francis she found with Mary a deep understanding of the Cross.
Therefore she was able to accept the disease, which was to destroy her health.
"I surrendered to the will of God - I deeply agree to what he is doing with me; this is deepest grace" (15th of December 1945).
Her personal struggle about the will of God found its expression in her ripest work: the fourteen stations of the Way of the Cross.
Sr. M. Innocentia died on the 6th of November 1946 at the age of 37 in the convent of Siessen.
An exposition of her work is to be seen in a small museum
Hummelsaal - Kloster Sießen
open:
Tuesday - Saturday 10.00 – 12.00 Uhr
14.00 – 16.00 Uhr (Oktober – Mai)
14.00 – 16.30 Uhr (Juni – September)
Sunday and Feastday 14.00 – 16.30 Uhr
Please take care:
On monday and on the first sunday of every month the museum is closed.
Groups are asked to make an appointment beforehand:
Fon (0 75 81) 80 124
Email hummelsaal(at)klostersiessen(dot)de
