Manfred Hortig
Manfred Hortig grew up in Neuruppen, small city about 50 miles northwest of Berlin in what at the time was the DDR, aka East Germany. Following his education he was briefly trained as an auto mechanic until a back injury forced a change of direction and a return to the classroom for courses in the fine arts. This suited his interests well as his grandmother had always fostered his talents in drawing and painting, skills which he further developed during his studies along with wood carving and turning. He served the State working at a cultural center in his hometown. But when the Wall came down and the State no longer existed, the job perished as well. He retrained as a surveyor, where his talent for drawing served him well and remained there until his retirement in 2012.
Upon retirement his wife, Angelika, bought him a pipe which he liked so much that he wanted to acquire a few more. However, economics intervened, the result being that he started making his own pipes. Drawing on his skills in woodcarving and art appreciation, they were not ordinary pipes. The results caught more than a few eyes, including those of six other artisan makers, to wit, Roger Wallenstein, Uwe Maier, Steffen Mueller, Christian Wolfsteiner, James Gilliam and Martin Hansen. And the emails, phones calls and mutual interests among them lead to a 2014 meeting and the formation of a collective known as Grainstorm.
That, in turn, lead to an annual event hosted by Uwe at his workshop in Ballingen during Karnival weekends wherein the group would decide and execute pipes around a given theme. The results were, to say the least, stunning. More remarkable were the influences and skills shared by the members.
What Manfred brought to that group and brings to pipe making is a set of exceptional skills demonstrated by the shaping, carving, graphic arts and imagination displayed and well executed.
He does so in a small workspace beneath his residence which recently became “heated” thus insuring his continuing efforts year round. When not pipe making or traveling, he is an avid sailor and active on the pipe show circuit in Germany where he had not missed an event since 2014 . . .excepting the 2024 Landau Show which occurred during his 50th anniversary.
- Examples of Manfred Hortig Pipes
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