He was born in Denmark in 1941, became an apprentice in a pipemaker’s workshop when he was 15, built a pipe factory in Switzerland, moved this factory to Germany a few years later and finally closed the circle and returned to Denmark. His name is Hans “Former” Nielsen.

From Formby to Former
Do you remember the movie star Georges Formby, the man with the ukulele and the tune “When I’m cleaning windows”? You may wonder why he is mentioned here, but actually he is the reason to Hans Nielsen’s nickname. When Hans was a young boy, some of his friends thought that he reminded a lot about this actor, so they started to call him Formby. Eventually the origin of the nickname was forgotten and it was transformed into Former.

Former and his wife Daniela are living in a small village in the south of Zealand and I have had the privilege to visit them two times this year. At the first visit we spent most of the time in the workshop and among other things we saw the copying machine in action, a most fascinating experience. The second time I had a long interview with both of them. Former has been active in the pipe business for all his life, and during this time Danish pipes have built its world wide reputation. So he really has a lot to tell.

A coincidence made him a pipemaker
Former was born in Jutland, but when he was very young his parents moved to Copenhagen. At the age of 15 he finished school and started to search for a job. In a newspaper he found two advertisements. One was in a mechanical workshop and Former thought that would be interesting, but when he got there he found that about 50 other youngsters also wanted that job. Former however waited patiently for several hours for his turn, just to find that the occupation had already been filled. The other advertisement was about a job as an apprentice in Suhr’s pipe workshop, and there Former was more successful.

So it was not a desire to make pipe that made Former to choose this career, more a coincidence. And it was also a coincidence that made him stay in this profession.

From repairman to pipemaker
This was in the middle of the 50s and Suhr’s workshop was run by the later on legendary Poul Rasmussen. They had a lot of repairing in the workshop and Former’s job was to fix these. But he was not alone, another pipemaker who later on also got a worldwide reputation, Sven Knudsen, was working there too. So Former and Svend spent their days transforming bad treated pipes into working order, a valuable experience for a pipemaker to be. Former and Poul Rasmussen became good friends, but despite that Former was not completely happy with his job, as he was not allowed to make any pipes on his own. So after about two years Former gave notice and found a job as an engine-man. But he kept in contact with Suhr’s by helping Poul Rasmussen in the shop on Saturdays.

Having finished his military service, Former returned to his job as a machine-man, and he was very contented with that. One day he looked in to say hello to Poul Rasmussen, who was just reading a newspaper. “Good that you came”, he said, “I have just found a job for you.” “But I have a good job”, Former replied. “This is a job for you”, Poul said and pointed at an advertisement in the paper, “you shall make pipes at W. Ø. Larsen”. “But you never taught me how to make a pipe, I just had to make repairing”, Former said. “You can do it”, Poul said “take this block and make a pipe.” The pipe was approved and Poul Rasmussen phoned the shop manager at Larsen’s, Svend Bang (the same man who later on started the Bang workshop) and told him: “Stop looking for a new pipemaker, I have him here.”

So Former had to go to Larsen’s for an interview. However, when he arrived Svend Bang had had an accident and broken his leg, so Former had to talk to the manager himself, Ole Larsen. To show his skill he was asked to copy seven pipes from W. Ø. Larsen’s catalogue. Former contacted his friend from the time at Suhr’s, Sven Knudsen, and was allowed to use his workshop to make the pipes. Ole Larsen was contented with the result and Former was employed.

From foreman to a pipemakers of his own
Former stayed at Larsen’s for ten years and soon became a foreman. When Former started, the workshop was situated in connection with the shop in Amagertorv. Often in the mornings someone was knocking at the window to the workshop. It was Sixten Ivarsson who was on his way to his workshop a few hundred meters away. If he saw a pipe in the window that he liked, he used to nod and made thumbs up.

But the workshop rapidly grew and at the most there were 18 employees. The facilities at Amagertorv became too small and during the time Former was there, the workshop moved twice. One of Former’s tasks as a foreman was to teach new pipemakers, and among them we find names like Teddy Kundsen (the brother of Sven), Tonni Nielsen, Poul Ilsted and P. H. Vigen.

During his time at W. Ø. Larsen Former built a workshop of his own at home, mainly used to develop new shapes. Emil and Jess Chonowitsch (father and son) had a workshop nearby and were making pipes for the Japanese market. They had more orders that they could handle, so they asked Former if he could help them. Former willingly did that, and he found that the Japanese paid so well that by making 15 pipes a month for them, he earned more than his salary at Larsen’s. As W. Ø. Larsen had no business at all with Japan, Former saw no problems in making this in his spare time. But he told his boss about it, and Ole Larsen did not like it at all. Actually he was so upset that he ordered Former to stop immediately, if not he had to finish his employment at Larsen’s. The decision was not hard to take and Former gave his notice to Larsen’s. This was in 1972.

An interesting offer
Former continued making pipes at home, in the beginning mainly for the Japanese market, but soon he also had more and more orders from Germany. In 1985 Former got an offer that was hard to resist; he was asked to go to Switzerland to modernize Bru Bu Werke, a factory in Kleinlützel.  Bru Bu Werke was making pipes and walking sticks and had about 180 employees. During the next year Former was in Switzerland several times to see the factory and to have the changes he found necessary made. The machines were very old and some of them even more or less dangerous to work with. It all took one year, then Former sold his house in Denmark and moved to Switzerland. The next year he started producing the Bentley-pipes – stamped “BENTLEY Formers design” – a series of classical pipes of a high quality. Those pipes were a success in Switzerland, Germany and several other countries.

But an important thing, which has nothing to do with pipes, happened during Former’s time in Switzerland. In the office at Bru Bu Werke a beautiful girl named Daniela was working. Former and Daniela fell in love and soon they were married.

The contract with the owner of the buildings, where Bru Bu Werke was situated, ran for five years. When the five years had passed, Former was offered to buy the buildings, but the price was too high to make it possible. At the same time Dan Pipes in Lauenburg, just outside Hamburg, had built a new, big tobacco factory and one floor was empty, intended to house a pipe factory. An agreement was settled and for a fair price Former was allowed to buy the machinery from Bru Bu Werke. So in 1993 two big trucks with trailers went to northern Germany, loaded with machines and furniture.

From Germany back to Denmark
In Lauenburg Former continued to make the Bentley-pipes, a trademark owned by Herman Lane (Lane Ltd.). But it was a crowded and noisy place they had come to, and there was an intense traffic just outside the building. During the time in Lauenburg Daniela gave birth to a son, and both Former and Daniela longed for a more quiet and restful place to live in. Their friend Svend Knudsen was asked to keep his eyes open for houses for sale in Denmark, and a few trips over the border was made to look at different objects. When the old smithy in Toksværd was for sale, Former immediate thought they had found the perfect house. There was space enough for a workshop as well as for living. To start with Daniella was a little uncertain, but after a while she also fell in love with that house. “We lived in three different places in Lauenburg, but now we are not going to move any more”, Daniella says with conviction.

Besides Former’s handmade pipes they continued to make the Bentley-pipes in Denmark. But in the beginning of this century, Daniella, who is not only helping in the workshop but also keeping the accounts, found that they were not profitable. They tried to get a new deal with Herman Lane, but when that fail the production of the Bentley-pipes was closed.

By Former, Former Handmade and Former Freehand
The production is divided into two parts, the completely handmade pipes and those made more mechanically. Those last mentioned pipes are in classical shapes and a copying machine is making a part of the job. This machine can make two pipes at a time and it is fascinating to see it working. The pipes made by the help of this machine are ordered by customers and stamped accordingly to the customer’s request. However, the text “by Former” is always added, which we are very grateful for. There are so many pipes around, stamped with completely unknown names, and it is almost impossible to find out who made them.

The “real” Former-pipes are completely made by hand and in great demand from all around the world. When watching the pictures to this article, it is not hard to understand why.

Pipes made before 1986 are stamped with the name “Former” in script. From 1986 block letters are used. The pipes are stamped “Former Handmade” or “Former Freehand” and the text “Made in Denmark”.

A fascinating day
I want to thank Former and Daniela for spending almost an entire day talking to me. Former has been in the business for a very long time and has met almost everyone of importance in pipemaking after WW II, so it was a lot of interesting things I learned that day.

During our long conversation I was surprised that Daniela was speaking Danish fluently. That she speaks German fluently is not surprising as she is from Switzerland, but I understand that she also masters English and French. But if you have a talent for languages, why should you be contented with that? When I left late in the afternoon, Daniela was going to a course – to learn Russian.

Jan Andersson