The pipe in Germany

in The Great Book of Pipes, Liebaert and Maya claim that Germany is the European country with the highest percentage of pipe smokers per capita. I don't know if this is true, but walking through the streets of any German city with a pipe in your mouth does not attract curious glances or provoke laughter from children, as is often the case in our part of the world. It is as if the German people are more accustomed to seeing those strange creatures that we pipe smokers are, enveloped in fragrant (or foul-smelling, depending on your taste) clouds and often busy fiddling with pipe cleaners and brushes.

The question is indeed a mysterious one, because in my travels in Germany I have very rarely come across stoves with local smokers: probably, pipe smokersbeyond the Alps prefer the living room to the public street, perhaps due to the cold of their winters, or perhaps, more simply, the education of that people prevents even children from staring wide-eyed at the gentleman holding that large, in my case, piece of coloured wood that emits smoke. In reality, the mystery is revealed when one realises that in Germany, despite today's grey health craze, smokers are not condemned to public pillory as they are here, but rather sumptuous, elegant and comfortable temples are built for them, called Smoker's Lounges... Every high-end hotel has one, as do bars and restaurants: a wonderful room with wallpaper and comfortable armchairs where every smoker can indulge in their vice or their art, as the case may be, freely and without feeling ghettoised, but almost privileged. Snuggled up in the warmth, sheltered from the harsh winter weather, lucky German smokers can relax and chat with other patrons, forgetting about the coat hook on which they have hung their jackets, as they do not have to periodically put them on to go out and smoke in the cold.

If Germany is a tolerant country, Berlin is the city of freedom, a Mecca that smokers from all over Europe should visit to understand what it really means to protect everyone's freedoms: non-smokers, who are not forced to breathe smoke everywhere, and smokers, who have their own spaces and are not mistreated like dogs in church.

Smoking a pipe in Berlin is relaxing for this reason alone, but the city has another feature that makes pipe smoking particularly enjoyable: clean air. We poor city smokers often have only a vague idea of what pure tobacco tastes like in Italy, accustomed as we are to inhaling benzene, carbon monoxide and many other flavourings released into the atmosphere by the excessive number of cars that rumble noisily through our narrow streets, built in thethe era of horse-drawn carriages. Berlin, on the other hand, having been almost completely destroyed during the last war, was rebuilt to accommodate cars. The wide avenues (some with eight lanes in the city centre) prevent hydrocarbons from accumulating as they do in many Italian cities. the buildings are modern, built with energy-saving criteria in mind: all this contributes to less pollution, and the discerning city smoker cannot fail to notice the different taste of his favourite tobacco. The country or mountain pipe smoker, on the other hand, may, on certain windy days, feel a certain air of home, net of the scent of woods and meadows.

Yes, but in this tobacco Eden that I am describing, what about the range of pipes and tobacco available? To begin with, throughout Germany, the range of tobaccos is much wider than in Italy: there are many more tobaccos at lower prices, and every specialist tobacconist can produce their own line of blends. Nevertheless, compared to Turin, there are fewer shops specialising in pipes: it is true that practically every tobacco retailer has at least four or five pipe tobaccos (Clan is a must...), but to find specialised shops with a wider range, it is not enough to stroll through the streets of the city centre; you need to do your research. Italian smokers are bound to come across the pipe, cigar and tobacco shop on the sixth floor of KaDeWe, the large shopping centre in the centre of Berlin, where they will find a slightly wider selection, some good cigars and a decent amount of tobacco. However, the more discerning pipe smoker should head to Pfeifenladen at 9 Muthesiusstrasse. As is often the case abroad, this is an unusual shop by Italian standards. No cigarettes, no postcards, no stamps or revenue stamps: just pipes and lots and lots of tins and bags of tobacco. I won't describe the interior of the shop because I don't remember it: as soon as I entered, my gaze was immediately drawn to the vast array of tobacco products available and within easy reach, like a child at a fairground! it is wonderful to be able to touch all that goodness, to be amazed by unknown brands, to see labels admired on American review sites, to smell, taste and discuss with Herr Hans his house blend and the tastes of German smokers. The latter, it must be said, prefer aromatic and light tobaccos, but they do not disdain English Mixtures: I, who love full-bodied and natural tobaccos, am a bit like a fish out of water. But it doesn't matter: good old Hans has everything I ask for except, for some reason, Timm 1000. Unfortunately, the choice of pipes is not as wide as the range of tobaccos: never mind, there is no shortage of pipes in Turin. It is in Italy, unfortunately, that there is a shortage of many tobaccos...

I know for a fact that there are many other shops in Berlin, but there is too much to do and see to go on a tour of tobacconists: just go to Pfeifenladen and you will leave the shop happy, satisfied, with a full pipe and two full shopping bags.

As in Berlin, there is at least one shop in Munich that is definitely worth visiting: Pfeifen Huber, Tal 22. While the Berlin shop has the feel of those quaint, family-run shops that we are used to seeing in Italy (with a few exceptions in Milan...), the reference point for Munich pipe smokers is more like a boutique: once you cross the threshold, walking across oriental rugs, surrounded by display cases filled with pipes and tobacco, can be somewhat intimidating. The spacious and elegant surroundings almost seem to mock the Italian adventurer who, approaching the counter, mentally rehearses the four phrases in English that he will throw at the sales assistant in his suit and tie, trusting in his benevolence. In reality, this performance anxiety, I say with conviction, is completely unfounded: the young people who work at Pfeifen Huber are all incredibly helpful, polite and welcoming. I will not easily forget the expression on the face of one of them when, overcome by my insistence, he agreed to fill his Vauen with one of Italy's tobacco delicacies: Trinciato Forte... Just watching his expression (and almost his colour) change, I remembered that Germans prefer light tobaccos and that, despite being masters at digesting pork shanks that sometimes leave me feeling rather unwell, they cannot tolerate the rampant character of our local Kentucky tobacco. Beyond the tobaccos normally available in Germany, Huber's house blends deserve a special mention: sure, for my palate they are a little lacking in body and strength, but the quality of some of them is beyond doubt. Among the house tobaccos, all of which are collected and described (in German) in a beautiful booklet available to the public, Louisiana Flake (Virginia, Kentucky and Perique) is worth mentioning, also available in a ready-rubbed version called Virginia Rich & Dark. There are also many pipes available: from the inevitable Dunhill (all of which, to tell the truth, are a little small) to the Italian Castello, passing through Ser Jacopo. For aficionados, I would point out the presence of a vast walking humidor which, taken up as I was with pipes and tobaccos, I did not visit.

When it's time to say goodbye, having left Munich and headed for the airport, Italian smokers may experience a moment of melancholy at the thought of having to return to Italy: after check-in, the best thing to do in such a situation is to treat yourself to one last German smoke. At the airport? Yes, in the large smoking room that Camel has set up inside, complete with tables and benches: inside this structure, a far cry from the cramped gas chambers sometimes found in Italian and European airports, the melancholic Italian smoker will have the opportunity to start getting used to his country again. Yes, because he will inevitably hear the more or less boisterous comments of some compatriots, confident that no one outside Italy can understand their language