Greetings from Germany

[Schacht]

Dear Brothers of Briar,

after I searched the Internet for a while to find a place where civilized people congregate to talk about pipes an tobacco, I´m very happy that I have found this.

My name is Thilo, I´m based in Berlin, Germany and after I tried pipe-smoking as a young man (20 years ago), I rediscovered it about a year ago now.
I really like traditional shapes, Billards, Canadians and Dublins and I love Charatans, Ashtons, Castellos, Dunhills, some Bents also - but nevertheless, if a freehand carver offers some quality and style, I´m very open to it, and thats why I don´t ignore the work of some of the lokal freehand carvers - Noske or Thomsen for example. There are quite a lot of people carving pipes nowadays and many dealers around here just as well, but it´s still not that easy to get a truly good pipe. By the way - I´ve been impressed by the pieces Yuri Aksenov (wich I didn´t know so far) showed here, and yes - I think I need to broaden my horizon a bit. That´s surely one reason why I´d like to join the Brothers of Briar.

Maybe I should mention, that I haven´t spoken english for a couple of years - therefor I´ve to beg you all pardon in advance, if what I write seems little bumpy: sorry for that.

kind regards
Thilo

 

[Jar]

Welcome to the forum, Thilo. It is so nice place indeed, and it is real pleasure to be here.
Happy puffing ! - Jacek in Poland

 

[Hermit]

Welcome to Bob.
We're only civilized some of the time. :twisted:

 

[Schacht]

[…] We're only civilized some of the time. […]

Fair enough - thanks a lot for your welcomes.

Kind regards
Thilo

 

[riff raff]

Welkommen. I haven't spoken German in many years, so we're even. Nice job with the English introduction! My relatives live in Karlsruhe, one day I'll get back there for a visit.

 

[hobie1dog]

Welcome and post up some pics of German pipe shops for us.

 

[Harlock999]

Welcome!
You seem to speak English better than some who speak it everyday, so don't worry about that!

 

[Schacht]

Thanks again for your very friendly welcome. I´m, of course, especially pleased about the (gracious but optimistic) encouragement regarding my use of the english language.

Kind regards
Thilo

 

[Natch]

Welcome, Thilo. I always like to see us become more "international" in our membership. Please tell us, if you can, what do you pay for 50g of good tobacco? Are most of the US & English blends available along with your German & Danish blends? Just curious what our brothers pay around the world and what's available to them.

Natch

 

[Schacht]

[…] I always like to see us become more "international" in our membership. […]

Interesting isnt´t it? There seem to be rather various members from outside the US, who like this board. Thanks indeed, for your welcome.

[…] Please tell us, if you can, what do you pay for 50g of good tobacco? Are most of the US & English blends available along with your German & Danish blends? Just curious what our brothers pay around the world and what's available to them. […]

Well, Early Motning Pipe or Samuel Gawith St. James Flake for example, will be available for about $ 17,-; Three Nuns is at $ 21,-. This is 12,- to 17,- € (approximately $ 1,40,- for 1,- €). English blends are obtainable everywhere. I don´t know exactly wich American blends you had in mind, but there are specialized pipe and tobacco dealers in every bigger city.

Unfortunately the pipe smoking community is getting smaller and smaller over the years. Therefore there are a lot of pipes on the market. That makes it difficult for the local carvers and many of them are trying to reach an international market place. To be on the Chicago Pipe Show is surely essential in that context. Rainer Barbi, who passed away unfortunately a couple of weeks ago, surely played an initial role and will remain truly irreplaceable. There are some other very talented pipe makers and some of them found their way to Chicago already, others are young and widely unknown yet.

Since the Oldenkott bankruptcy in 1992, the last major pipe manufacture is Vauen in Nuremberg. They´re pretty big in the mass market, nearly every German pipe smoker has at least one Vauen. Me too - even if I really don´t like the 9mm drilling, I am simply not able to understand, why the invention of the 9mm filter got so successful here in Germany, but a lot of Pipe smokers use those filters. Luckily, others are declining them, and carvers like Karl Heinz Joura or Hans-Günther Noske wouldn´t ever drill such a 9mm hole in one of their pipes.

So I´ll better stop it here, before this little insight to pipesmoking in Germany is getting utterly tedious, and wish you all a great Tuesday.

Kind regards
Thilo

 

[Jar]

Please excuse me this OT; I would like to thank @Natch for prompting @Thilo for sharing information on present pipemaking in Germany. I hope, Thilo, that you do not mind that I have forwarded these information to our Polish pipe forum FMS creating there thread titled: Contemporary pipemaking in Germany (Wspolczesne wytworstwo fajek w Niemczech)
http://www.fajczarze.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=97&p=63310#p63310

As always

Jacek in Poland

 

[Schacht]

Please excuse me[…]

No reason for that. Too bad - in spite of having a very dear friend from Poland here and some beloved colleagues in Cracow, I haven´t managed to learn the language in all those years. It´s because all Polish people I know speak such an distinguished english and most of them even German. It´s all your fault then.

 

[Jar]

- sure, Thilo, it's my/our fault thanks God we have the English language - Lingua Franca these days, plus it is so good to be able to read Goethe or Rilke in original…unfortunately the undersigned did not have a chance of improving German, as all of my German Friends, Cooperators and in the old days - Students speak so good English

 

[Schacht]

[…] it is so good to be able to read Goethe or Rilke in original […]

Thanks, Jacek - I´d wish the majority of my fellow Germans would agree with that. Luckily for us, we´re surroundet by cultivated neighbours.

 

[Natch]

Thilo, you hit on a "fact" that has always confused me as well, why the 9mm filter pipes became so popular in Germany. Eventually, many of the other makers (Dunhill, Charaton, etc) would make a few for that market, and they never really caught on in the U.S.

I also own a few Vaughn's, along with a few D. Berlins, as I apparently am one of the few Yanks that include several 9mm filter pipes in my rotation.

You're tobacco prices don't sound too bad, certainly more than we pay in the U.S., but much better than our Canadian brothers have to pay.

Natch

 

[MisterE]

Welcome!

 

[the madadh]

Would just like to throw in mine own willkommen. My German is almost as bad as my Polish, so I concur: Thanks for the Lingua Franca of the day!

So are those (relatively) high tobacco prices due to taxation, or are we just talking about some quality stuff?

Once again, welcome to the forum!

Tim

 

[Schacht]

[…] So are those (relatively) high tobacco prices due to taxation […] ? […]

Certainly yes, Tim, the prices rised caused by taxation during the last years. Every tobacco tin is decorated with large warning tags telling you´re threatened by death or even yet impotence. It´s policy likewise you may know it in the states.

Thanks again ererybody for your warm welcome.

Kind regards
Thilo