At least three different brands of Rhine wine are sold under her name. Angel Records in New York, a division of EMI Records, produced an electronically synthesized version of her canticles, or liturgical songs. Like other celebrities, she is frequently in the newspapers. She is being revered, commercialized and exploited as never before,'' according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. St. Hildegard was born in 1098, but because her exact date of birth was not recorded, the entire year has been opened to a windfall of commemorations.
Many visitors come from the United States.
The Pope will send an ambassador to the annual Eibingen procession and mass on her feast day. New York's Lincoln Center has just performed her works to sold-out audiences. Grace Cathedral in San Francisco is leading a pilgrimage to Germany in time for her feast day. Scholars come up with several reasons why the life and works of a cloistered nun can loom so large across nine centuries. Perhaps the most conspicuous stems from St. Hildegard's decision to situate her convents in what is now some of the most heavily touristed byways in Germany.