The hümmelchen is a small type of German bagpipe that was recorded in Syntagma Musicum by Michael Praetorius during the Renaissance.

Early versions of the hümmelchen likely had chanters with two reeds and drones with one reed.

The name "hümmelchen" may come from the Low German word hämeln, which means "trim." This could describe the instrument's small size, as if it were a smaller version of a larger bagpipe. Another possible origin of the name is the German word hummel, meaning "bumblebee," which might refer to the buzzing sound made by the drone. The word hummel is still used today to describe a type of zither that makes a droning sound in German-speaking regions.