Karlheinz Joura

Courtesy of Smokingpipes.com

The mystique of the Joura pipe began in 1974 when Karl-Heinz Joura, a famous former world-class diver and Communist defector, began quietly selling his exquisitely cut straight-grain pipes from his hometown of Bremen, Germany. Even in spite of his athletic accomplishments (Joura competed in many world diving competitions, including the German Championship Games in 1961), the young man had found few prospects in his native East Germany, so he defected to the West, hiding in the cargo hold of a freighter bound for Bremen.

Being known as a great athlete, Joura first found work teaching physical education in the West German schools. Noting that many of his fellow teachers smoked pipes, Joura began to experiment with pipe-making. These early pipes sold so well that Joura decided to devote his life to pipe artistry.

From the very beginning, though, Joura made his way on his own terms. He restricted his production to just a few hundred pipes a year, working with the finest briar to produce nothing but beautifully cut, perfectly engineered, smooth straight-grain pipes. And unlike many of his contemporaries, he chose not to go to pipe shows or to actively market his pipes. From the beginning, his clients came to his home, where, over coffee and a pipe or two of tobacco, they would choose pipes for their shops.

For many years, Joura pipes were known only in Germany and Northern Europe, and American connoisseurs were forced to buy his pipes in Europe or at pipe shows where a few lucky distributors would exhibit a small collection of Joura pipes. From the beginning, though, serious collectors and smokers sought out Jouras, which quickly became legendary for their smoking qualities, engineering, and perfect execution. Today, most American collectors rank Joura pipes as among the very best, comparing well to pipes by S. Bang, Baldo Baldi, and other world-class artisans.

Joura is well known for his lovely Danish-style shapes, which he says are inspired by the flowing, soft curves he sees in the parks and along the rivers as he walks through his adopted city of Bremen. He hand-cuts all his bits from top-grade Vulcanite and works hard to craft a thin, highly comfortable bit, as he is sure a thinner bit produces a drier smoke. Even though he often works with spherical or ovoid forms, his pieces always display dazzling straight grain. And if a piece develops a flaw, at no matter what stage of production, Joura immediately discards it. Joura is a man of great patience and resolve and he is determined to produce pipes that meet the highest standards of the world collecting community.

Tremendously gifted and dedicated to precise, disciplined artistry, Karl-Heinz Joura is without a doubt one of the world's great pipe makers. It isn't surprising that his pipes are sought after by discriminating smokers world-wide.