"SPECIAL EXHIBITION OF GERMAN PIPE MAKERS IN MEMORY OF THEIR COLLEAGUE STEFFEN MULLER" (1966 - 2024)

Saturday October 11 – from 10:00 – 17:00 - Techniekzaal (Van der Valk Eindhoven)

CO-Pipes
These are the police officers ("cops") Kelvin Pohler (48) and Toto Klemme (53) from the Ruhr area, who have been making pipes together for 10 years. Each year, 80 to 90 Danish classic-inspired, impeccably crafted pieces pass through their hands—ensuring a unique standard of quality assurance.

Manfred Hortig
Like Steffen Müller, he is one of the founding members of the "German Avant-Garde," which emerged in the 2010s. The 74-year-old former cultural scientist from Neu-Ruppin, Brandenburg, has been crafting around 80 often highly unusual pipes per year for the past 12 years. He is a multiple recipient of the Hanau Innovation Award.

Roland Kirsch
A trained carpenter, he brings a strong craft background to his pipe making. Now 73, Kirsch is about the same age as Manfred Hortig and, like him, hails from the former GDR. Based in Schwerin, he has achieved an annual production of 200 pipes since 2013—garnering growing international popularity.

Jürgen Moritz
From Mönchengladbach, Moritz has been building exceptionally delicate, high-level pipes for 22 years. His unmistakable influences include not only Danish masters but also Paolo Becker. The 66-year-old social pedagogue equips many of his approximately 70 annual creations with additions such as bamboo.

Kristijan Pavic (52)
Based in Berlin, Pavic trained as a stone sculptor and began making pipes 14 years ago. He doesn’t associate himself with any particular “school,” instead citing “everyone who is better than me” as his role models. Working mostly without machines, he produces 25 to 30 pipes annually.

Bertram Safferling
Often referred to—like Rainer Barbi—as the godfather of German pipe making. A trained product designer, Safferling has been active in the field for over 45 years, sharing his knowledge in countless workshops for beginners and advanced makers alike. Steffen Müller also trained under him. Now based in Salerno, Italy, Safferling produces 40 to 50 pipes a year. He rightly values his unique stylistic identity, focused on elegance and independent of Scandinavian influences.

Roger Wallenstein
Born the same year as Safferling, with whom he also trained, Wallenstein entered the world of pipe making 20 years ago. A lawyer from Saarland, he developed the “Driftwood Finish,” used on most of his roughly 80 pipes produced annually. Like Steffen Müller and others, he is considered a member of the “German Avant-Garde.” Steffen Müller (1966-2024)

Marc Prokein

lives near the Dutch border, specifically in Oberhausen. The 46-year-old master of automotive engineering has been making about 40 Scandinavian-classic-inspired and perfectly crafted pipes each year since 2019. It is unmistakable – both as a maker and as a smoker – his preference for relatively small formats and colorful mouthpiece materials.

Thomas Kalmar

has only been making pipes since 2022, but he has already achieved great skill and a distinctive style. After all, around 220 pipes leave the workshop of the horticultural engineer from the Bavarian Forest each year, showcasing the 46-year-old's preference for the use of various applications.

Wolfram Benz (50)

has a solid artisanal background as a trained industrial mechanic. Since2021 – now as his fulltime occupation – he has been making pipes. Since then, around 1,000 pipes, which he has crafted with the minimal possible use of machines, using only drills, files, and the utmost precision strictly following the grain, have left his workshop in Alsace.

Steffen Mueler (1966-2024)