Bjarne: Difference between revisions

'''Bjarne Nielsen''' died of a severe heart attack in the night of February, 27th 2008, at the age of 66. The pipe community lost one of its greatest characters who loved and lived pipes. He was one of the most knowledgeable persons about the history of the Danish handmade pipe. May he rest in peace!  

[[File:BjarneNielsen.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Bjarne Nielsen getting ready to sell some pipes and visit with customers, courtesy [http://www.piepenhoeker.de/english/eersteschau.htm Piepenhoeker.de]]]Bjarne Nielsen was born in 1942, and started smoking a pipe when he was 16 years old, and he also made some pipes for his own use at that time. He liked the pipes and made some more, giving some away as presents to friends. At the University of Copenhagen he obtained an MBA degree and found work at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he helped Danish companies that were exporting their products establish contacts in foreign countries. That was in the 1960's when the high demand for Danish freehand pipes started, so Bjarne was ofen asked if he knew of any companies that could sell those types of pipes. But all those companies had their order-books filled, so Bjarne always had to give a negative answer. One day he decided to send some pictures of his own pipes, and the response was overwhelming. He was asked how many pipes he could make and how quickly he could deliver them, and at once Bjarne had order for more pipes than he could make. What had been a relaxing hobby now became much more than that.