HUMMELS FIGURINES

We are your source for original Hummels figurines

- probably biggest selection in Switzerland for Hummels figurines

- all figurines directly purchased from maker (Goebel porcelain)

- We DON'T buy from any other sources (= no fakes)

- Hummels shop in Interlaken, Switzerland (contact before visit!)

- Many older figurines, especially 1980's

- International shipping by Swiss Postal Services

Hummels Pricelist

Available figurines with prices are listed on this page:

Hummels List

The creation process of a figurine

Maria Innocentia Hummel: The Legacy of an Artist

21 May 1909: Berta Hummel is born in Massing an der Rott, Germany, the third of seven children of merchant Adolf Hummel. Her artistic talent shows itself in her earliest youth. She often draws captivating caricatures of her teachers and schoolmates.

1921-1926: At the "Marienhöhe" institute for young ladies in Simbach am Inn, Berta Hummel's promising creative talent is encouraged and developed in intensive art lessons. One teacher advises her to attend the Munich Academy of Applied Art.

1927-1931: Berta Hummel is acceptetd by the academy and starts her studies in the summer term of 1927 under the tutelage of the highly respected teachers Maximilian Dasio, Else Brauneis and F. Wirnhier.

During her time at the academy she produced an entire range of excellent works - expressionist still lifes, portraits and self-portraits.

Berta Hummel's years as a student not only developed her artistic talent but defined the course of her future life. The young student met two Franciscan Sisters from the Convent at Siessen in Württemberg, who were also completing their studies. Artistic creativity in the fine arts was encouraged at their convent. Her friendship with the sisters, and the idea of combining religion and art in her future work, prompted her decision to enter the convent.

1931 - 1934: In April 1931 Berta Hummel completed her studies at the top of her class an entered the convent. In August 1933 she took her first vows and was given the name Sister Maria Innocentia. She took her final vows on August 30, 1934. Her many tasks at the convent included giving drawing lessons at a convent school. Her love for children gave rise to the drawings of children playing - the children of friends from her own childhood, and children who came to play in the convent gardens. This was when she finally found her own personal style. A first exhibition of her works generated a great deal of interest, and publishers were soon knocking on her door. This is how Franz Goebel came to know her work. Together with his master sculptors Reinhold Unger and Arthur Möller, he examined thepossibilities of making figurines based on her drawings. Finally he met with the artist herself and her mother superior. A licensing agreement was concluded, which gave Goebel the exclusive rights to manufacture and sell three dimensional products.

1935-1946: When Goebel launched the first figurines at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1935, this marked the exciting start on an international success story. In order to ensure compliance with the licensing agreement with the convent, under which the convent had the final word in matters of artistic integrity, Sister M. Innocentia Hummel visited the factory. Here she worked with the artists to ensure that the three-dimensional figurines created from her two-dimensional drawings were to her satisfaction.

Sadly, the life of this great lady came to an early end. In November 1946 she succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of only 37. Fortunately her divinely gifted talent lives on in the M. I. Hummel Figurines. Now, as then, they are hand-made in accordance with strict principles of artistic integrity.

A team of artists and members of the management stuff submits each new model to a group of experts from the convent for approval at tow stages of its development. M. I. Hummel Figurines have become a symbol of the carefree days of childhood, bringing joy to millions.