Pollner (Carl Pollner & Sohn)

Pollner, in full Carl Pollner & Sohn, is a wood-turning and tobacconist business that has stayed in the hands of the same family in the Westphalian town of Bünde since October 9, 1878. Founded as a small turning shop producing stair treads, table legs, and furniture parts, the business began selling umbrellas, canes, and pipes as well once a small shop opened in 1881; in later generations the emphasis shifted entirely to pipes and tobacco.

Founding and Generations

The workshop's founders were Carl and Elise Pollner. Otto Pollner, born in 1883 and representing the second generation, learned the wood-turning trade in the pipe branch in Münster and completed his training around 1900; the direction of the business became clear in this period. The firm was registered under the name "Carl Pollner & Sohn" in 1920 and that same year moved into its own building housing both the workshop and the sales section together; the second generation's management continued until 1957.

The name at the head of the third generation is Otto Pollner II, who took over management in 1958. According to Pipedia, he ran the business during this period together with his wife Wanda, and later with Christel Pollner; the tobacco side became notably prominent. In 1990 management passed to the fourth generation's Otto-Karl Pollner. The fifth generation is represented by Julian Gronau, who took charge of the business in 2015.