THANK YOU FOR VISITING THE "BERTA-HUMMEL-MUSEUM"

We are pleased to welcome you to the birthplace of the artist, Berta Hummel. On the following pages you will learn that Berta Hummel created much more than those childhood scenes, which later became the basis for the world-famous "Hummel figurines." As you read on, you will learn interesting facts about the Hummel home, a place rich in tradition and culture. The website takes you through the museum itself, informs you about the permanent exhibits and any current special exhibitions. Detailed information is also available about the impressive life of the artist and nun Berta Hummel / M. Innocentia. Finally, in the Museum Shop, you can look through the items available and, if you wish, order directly via internet. Enjoy your visit!

Bike Rally in Massing on June 9th, 2013

The XperBike rally took place in Massing on Sunday, the ninth of June 2013. 542 enthusiastic bikers from thirteen different towns rode into the upper valley of the river Rott. They were greeted on the city square by Massing's youth orchestra. The weather was beautiful. Following the welcome ceremony the bikers enjoyed music, information stands, a unicycle performance by the Massing sports group, the Berta Hummel treasure hunt and the mayors' competition. Volunteers from local clubs provided the bikers with good food and drinks.

13 mayors took part in a bike biathlon - the mayors' competition. The first part of the race consisted of biking the first stretch, then they had to run past the city council building, followed by a ring-throwing competition involving 30 rings and set up by the local gun club. The final part was a race on a tandem that required talent and coordination. Herbert Sporrer from Simbach near Landau won the title "Fastest biker in the XperBike competition." All three top winners donated their prize money - 300, 200 and 100 euros - to the flool victims here in Germany. The towns with the most participants, Arnstorf with 97 bikers and Unterdietfurt with 70 bikers, also donated their prize money to the flood victims.

Another traditional competition involved estimating the number of Hummel figurines on the main floor of the Berta Hummel Museum. There are 457 figurines on display at the moment. There were two first prizes. Gisela Wältl from Arnstorf and Christina Haberl from Massing missed the correct number by two. The winners each got a valuable M.I. Hummel figurine donated by Alfred Hummel, the director of the Berta Hummel museum, and Mayor Josef Auer.

A drawing followed to determine where the race will be next year, 2014. The happy winner was the town of Eichendorf.

M.I. Hummel Club "Hummel-Hummel Team" ist 20 years old!

The "Hummel-Hummel Team" celebrated its 20th anniversary this year in Eckenförde from the 12th to the 14th of April. Thorsten Kröger and his helpers put a lot of effort into organizing the event. First everyone met at the harbor in Krögers' shop. In the evening the guests enjoyed a meal in the restaurant "Rhodos". Alfred Hummel, Wolfgang Seidl and Jörg Köster traveled the farthest to take part in the celebration. Mrs Antje Davis, the president of the Hummel Club in Rödental was sick and unfortunately could not attend the anniversary. However, Holger Prange, former Sales and Marketing Manager of the porcelain factory in Rödental, was able to join the guests. Mr Köster brought a special present - a white Hummel figurine with congratulatory wishes written on it. Mr Hummel presented the club with a biography of Berta Hummel and a book about her artistic work during her years at the university.

Saturday was filled with various activities, including a competition with questions about Eckenförde. Every participant received a gift and a copy of the Hummel-Hummel Express. In the evening the guests enjoyed a second evening in the restaurant "Rhodos". Sunday after a short get-together, the celebration was over and the guests returned home.

9th Berta Hummel Race at the Open Air Museum in Massing breaks records in attendance and distance

Josef Diensthuber from the team Gendorf Wacker Burghausen took part in the race in Massing for the first time and set a new record for the 8000 meter competition. Christine Sachs (German Champion) from the club in Geiselhöring, a favorite among the locals, won the women's competition. Although being the oldest female competitor, she won the Berta Hummel Race in Massing for the 5th time. The sunny weather brought out quite a few additional runners and walkers, bringing the final toll to 135 participants. In the cross-country competition through the Open Air Museum in Massing the ski club from Niedertaufkirchen had the largest group with thirteen participants. The team from Mettenheim was the second largest group with ten participants. As in the years before the goal was at the Schusteröderhof, a wonderful meeting place for runners of all ages. The Racing Club from Massing provided the runners with apples, bananas and hot tea, the perfect drink for a frosty spring run.

The speaker at the award ceremony presented Mr Alfred Hummel, the patron for the race. He then announced the two winners, Josef Diensthuber and Christine Sachs and presented them with a Hummel figurine as their prizes. Mayor Josef Auer was also there to greet the guests from near and far. He praised the Berta Hummel Race as an important part of the running competitions in Lower Bavaria, an enrichment for the town of Massing. The race organizer Roland Wunderlich presented the winners with certificates and with beechwood trophies. They were specially made for the race with the Hummel logo on them. Special thanks went out to the sponsors and helpers. Without them a race of this kind would not be possible.

Lost and Found: Berta Hummel's rediscovered Works

The top county official, Manfred Hölzlein, opened the new Berta Hummel exhibition in the Hummel Museum in Massing on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. Alfred Hummel, head of the museum, greeted the many guests and explained briefly how this exhibition came to be. Since the museum was opened in 1994, he has been able to purchase one hundred of her original pictures. Thirty-eight of those pictures were acquired when the Goebel Hummel archives were closed. Goebel was the porcelain factory which produced the Hummel figurines until 2006. Those pictures purchased were used by Goebel as models for the figurines they produced.
The art historian, Dr. Genoveva Nitz of Munich, explained the various rooms with their works of art. The first room deals with religious motives. A special exhibit in this room is the eleven drafts for the school Bible planned for the former Archbishop Michael Buchberger in Regensburg. These pictures are on loan from the convent in Sießen. The main room displays the pictures used as models for the Hummel figurines. Hummel figurines corresponding to the some of the pictures can be seen nearby in two display cabinets. Additionally, wonderful nativity scenes, pictures of angels and flower paintings are on display in the hall and in the last room.

Visitors can enjoy this exhibition until January 2014. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Alfred Hummel's 70th birthday

On Saturday, November 24th, 2012 Alfred Hummel celebrated his 70th birthday in the restaurant in the Lower Bavarian Open Air Museum in Massing. Those present were family members, friends, sports buddies and the team from the Berta Hummel Museum. The museum team prepared a very original skit. Danjana Fasciolo led a group of visiting dignitaries consisting of Katharina Zellhuber, Nicole Brams, Franziska Perseis and Steffi und Michl Hummel with their children on a tour of the imaginary museum. Alfred Hummel himself was "framed" and hanging on the wall. Other imaginary works of arts included "Nicole in red", "Meditation" and the "Honey Lover". The sketch received loud applause and may well be used for future tours of the museum. Another surprise of the evening were the texts "Gstanzl" sung by a group of Alfred Hummel's tennis friends, making fun of the various athletic endeavors and styles within the group.

Club Coordinators meet in Roedental

Twenty-five club coordinators from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium met in Roedental on August 24th and 25th. Mr Prange, who organized the meeting, first showed the visitors the new Hummel figurines for the year 2013. Then they met in the garden of the "Stocke Villa" where they were greeted by Mr Koester. In a short statement he explained the difficulties faced in recent times and apologized for any inconveniences these problems may have caused in the last few months. After a lively discussion the guests were invited to dinner at the restaurant “Quo Vadis”.

The following day began with the theme "Functions within the Hummel Clubs". Mr Koester had stated in his speech the day before that there was no more money available for further positions on the Hummel staff and the discussion centered around the question of what the individual clubs could do to improve the efficiency of the Hummel Clubs. Mr Thorsten Kroeger agreed to be the speaker for the club coordinators. The first point of agreement was the need to support the work done by Mrs Davis and Mrs Hummel in the main office of the clubs in Roedental. Mr Kroeger volunteered to monitor the telephone three evenings a week for two hours at a time. Mrs Gerlinde Kolb of the Pfaelzer Hummele is willing to reply to any e-mails forwarded from the main office, relying on advice and support from Mr Wolfgang Seidl when necessary. Mrs Elisabeth Heizinger from Rottaler Hummelschwarm and Mr Kroeger have agreed to update the Hummel facebook entries. These new ideas will be put into effect immediately and reevaluated at a meeting in the spring of 2013.

Mr Prange, who will be leaving his position the middle of September to start a new project, said goodbye to the visitors. Mr Alfred Hummel, who had also been invited to the meeting, thanked Mr Prange for his good work, his pleasant manner of dealing with others and his reliability. These words of thanks were not only from Mr Hummel, but also from the members of the Hummel clubs, the Convent in Siessen and the entire Hummel family.

Opening of new Exhibition

The exhibition "Mei liabstes Stück" (My favorite work of art) opened on Saturday, May 19th, 2012, in the Kubin room at the City Council in Schärding (Upper Austria). 16 of the 39 museums in the Rottal and Pramtal Museum Cooperation made their favorite work of art available for the exhibition that will travel from one museum to another over the next one and a half years. It will move from Neumarkt St. Veit in Bavaria through all of the participating museums along the Rott and the Inn and then down to Haag in Upper Austria. The final exhibition will be in the Lower Bavarian Open Air Museum in Massing and in the Berta-Hummel-Museum im Hummelhaus, also in Massing. This final exhibition will be in the fall of 2013.

Berta Hummel Race in Massing on March 25th, 2012

More than 100 participants from youngsters to adults took part in the race at the Lower Bavarian Outdoor Museum in Massing. It was a perfect spring day. The winner for the women in the 8000 meter race was Stefanie Stadler and for the men, Hans Grundner. The first prize was an exquisite Berta Hummel figurine, sponsored by Alfred Hummel of the Berta Hummel Museum and presented at the awards ceremony in the Massing gymnasium.

M.I.Hummel Zeitgeist

M.I. Hummel Zeitgeist is a new interpretation of the classic Hummel-Figurine. By renouncing the painting, the focal point is on the essence of the figurine - its shape. Thereby, main characteristics remain but the different design sets the figurine in a complete new light. Structure instead of ornament. The creative driving force behind the Zeitgeist range are the siblings Veronika and Maximilian Hummel, descendants of Berta Hummel, creator of the world-famous M.I. Hummel-Figurines. With their motto ‘less is more’ the Hummel siblings link arts and crafts tradition with the present. The metamorphosis of a classic to modern sculpture. M.I. Hummel Zeitgeist is being produced by the Manufaktur Rödental in Germany. The high-quality porcelain figurines are made by hand in a complex manufacturing process during which they are molded, cast and go through the process of firing several times.
http://www.gestattenhummel.de

Presentation of the New Figurines for 2012

Mrs Marion Kotschenreuther from the Porcelain Factory in Rödental visited the Berta Hummel Museum in the Hummel Family Home on Sunday the 25th of March and presented the new Hummel figurines for the first half of 2012. The date was well chosen as it was also the day for the Berta Hummel Race and the Easter Market in Massing. Many of the visitors took advantage of the opportunity and visited the Berta Hummel Museum free of charge. Various cakes, coffee and cold drinks were available for the visitors. Toward the end of the program a drawing took place for a Hummel icon. A long-time customer from Geisenhausen was pleased to have the ticket with the winning number.

Centa Hummel - Berta Hummel's youngest sister passed away

Centa Hummel passed away in Passau at the age of 99, just before her 100th birthday. She was the favorite sister of Berta Hummel, the artist, and was also a well-educated woman. After finishing her studies, she worked as a teacher for physical education and handicrafts in a number of schools. Then, until her retirment she worked as a teacher of sport (Studienrätin) at the Freudenhain College Prep School in Passau. She was buried on Friday, September 30th, 2011 in the family grave in Massing.

May we introduce.....Hummel

A completely "different" Hummel shop was opened on the Roman Stone Bridge "Steinerne Brücke" in Regenburg on Saturday , November 13th, 2010. Sister and brother Veronika and Maximilian Hummel (great niece and great nephew of the artist Berta Hummel) opened the "smallest" Hummel shop in the world - a shop with just under 10 square meters. Maximilian Hummel was the architect of the unusual shop design. The shop sells only Hummel products, including Hummel figurines, Hummel cards, calendars and books. The name of the shop "gestatten.....Hummel", part of the J. Hummel KG, is being run by Veronika Hummel herself.

Events at the Open-Air Museum Massing

For actual events and exhibitions of the Open-Air Museum Massing please visit www.freilichtmuseum.de.