Fischer, Peter

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Peter Fischer was born in 1949 in Schleswig-Holstein, the utmost northern part of Germany. After he had finished a commercial apprenticeship he bought a one way ticket to Hamburg where he trained some seamanship for a while. Aged 21 he hired as a paymaster on a cargo steamer and traveled the seven seas for the next three years.

From the oceans to the mountains - Fischer settled down in Switzerland. After he had watched the demonstration of an old Helvetian pipemaker at an exhibition in Winterthur he was motivated to give himself a try in this craft. So he rented a small shop in the ancient part of Schaffhausen in 1975 and began dedicating himself to pipemaking. After modest and laboriously beginnings with pre-drilled blocks he soon realised that this way wouldn’t lead too far. He invested in appropriate tooling and better wood and began to make pipes in an artistic way.

Apart from manufacturing his pipes he worked as a barkeeper for many years in a popular Schaffhausen jazz and rock tavern. Fischer wanted to stay independent of the absolute must to market his handicraft art because living on pipemaking. He felt aware there was some danger to be corrupted otherwise by dependence and thus fulfilling the demands of market.

Today Peter Fischer offers three types of pipes:

  • The Calabash. Going from the conventional Calabash, he developed it further using implements on the stem and applications of most diverse materials. Thereby the “Fischer Calabash” years ago gained protection of design and patterns by the Federal Swiss Model Registration Department.
  • The Schaffhauser hunter’s pipe. Sketched in a frolicsome circle of huntsmen these pipes are richly ornamented with horn and antler with inserts of briar. (Fischer himself is strongly addicted to fly-fishing and hunting.)
  • The Briar freehands.

If we don’t count the pipes Fischer made for fellow pipesters of German internet newsgroup d.a.f.t.de each piece from his hands is unique, as he never makes exactly the same shape twice. Fischer's briars represent a class of their own in their precision and finish.