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Brand Dating Guides
A Vauen carries no year code, except the Pipe of the Year. The country stamp, the dot and the filter seat place it in an era.
Updated 2026-09-29
Welcome. If your pipe says VAUEN, this guide helps you place it in its era.
Vauen makes pipes in Nuremberg, in Germany. Pipedia calls it the first German pipe factory.
Pipedia is an online pipe encyclopedia. Most of its Vauen history comes from Vauen's own website.
Most Vauen pipes carry no year. You can place many pipes in an era, but not in one year.
One series is the exception. Each Pipe of the Year carries its own year.
Where sources disagree, we show both. We say when a fact has one source only.
Each rule has a rank: high, medium or low. High means strong, agreed evidence.
Medium means one good source or a general rule. Low means a wide range or a weak hint.
From two Nuremberg workshops to one family firm
In 1848 Karl Ellenberger and Carl August Ziener opened a pipe factory in Nuremberg, says Pipedia.
In 1866 Gebhard Ott founded a second pipe factory in the same city.
In 1901 the two firms joined. The new name was Vereinigte Pfeifenfabriken Nuremberg, short VPFN.
In English that name means United Pipe Factories of Nuremberg. Ernst Eckert, of the Ott family, ran it.
In 1909 his son Adolf Eckert made the name VAUEN. It joins V, said vau, and N, said en.
V stands for Vereinigte, the first word of the firm. N stands for Nuremberg.
A German state newspaper printed the VAUEN trademark on 12 October 1909, as number 121675.
In 1921 Vauen brought out a simple paper filter, says Pipedia.
In 1934 Vauen showed the Dr. Perl junior filter. It is a charcoal filter, 9 mm wide.
After 1945 Ernst Eckert, son of Adolf, rebuilt the firm after the war, says Pipedia.
Since 1968 most Vauen models have the Conex filter seat, says Pipedia.
Since 1982 Alexander Eckert has led the firm. He is the fifth generation of the family.
In 1993 Vauen made its first Pipe of the Year.
One dot, two colours, and a court case with Dunhill
In the 1920s Vauen took a white dot on the stem as its mark for Germany and Austria.
At the same time Dunhill took a white dot for the rest of the world, says Pipedia.
The two firms went to court. Dunhill may use the white dot in every country.
Vauen may use the white dot only in Germany and Austria. Elsewhere Vauen uses a light blue or grey dot.
So a white dot on a Vauen means a pipe made for Germany or Austria.
A dot marks the higher grades. The lower grades carry only the name VAUEN on the stem.
Pipedia gives no year for the court case, only the 1920s. Our start year for the coloured dot, 1925, is an estimate.
Vauen and the 9 mm filter
Most Vauen pipes take a filter. The filter sits in a chamber inside the stem.
A 9 mm chamber fits the Dr. Perl junior filter. That filter was first shown in 1934.
The Conex seat is a cone-shaped end of the filter chamber in the stem. It holds the filter tight.
Pipedia says most Vauen models have had Conex since 1968. It also says some later pipes do not.
Stanwell and other makers later used Conex too, says Pipedia. So Conex alone does not prove Vauen.
Years with no rank
Our cabinet gives these lines years but no rank. So we list them here without a rank.
Our cabinet is our file of sourced dating facts for one maker.
Pipe of the Year: in German, Jahrespfeife. From 1993 onward, one new shape each year.
Each Pipe of the Year has sterling silver trim and a silver crossed-pipes mark. It also carries its year.
Vauen's own archive lists 33 editions, 1993 to 2025, with no gap. We read it on 16 July 2026.
Some shops sell them under codes such as J2024A. The four digits are the year.
175 Years Anniversary Pipe: the edition of 2023, as 1848 plus 175 is 2023. Vauen still sold it in 2026.
Auenland: from 2013 onward. One source only: the Dan Pipe catalogue of 2019, page 44.
That catalogue says Vauen started Auenland in 2013, after its Lord of the Rings pipes.
The word GERMANY on its own dates very little. It fits before 1949 and after 1990.
A number such as 368, 1243 or 3075 is a model number. It is never a year.
The name Dr. Perl alone is not a 1934 mark. A Vauen ad of December 1927 already names the Dr. Perl pipe.
We read that 1927 ad on the page image itself. It is in the Pilsner Tagblatt, a Pilsen paper.
No dot does not mean an old pipe. The lower grades never had a dot.
No Conex seat does not mean before 1968. Pipedia says some later Vauen pipes lack it.
A missing mark never dates a pipe.
The white dot is also a Dunhill mark. Read the maker's name first.
Read the country stamp first. It gives the sharpest window on most Vauen pipes.
MADE IN WEST GERMANY, WEST GERMANY or W. GERMANY
West Germany existed from 1949 to 1990. A general rule for all German pipes, and the sharpest one for Vauen.
US-ZONE or US ZONE
The wording of the American occupation years. A general rule for German pipes, not a Vauen source.
Read the name on the pipe, then look for a German patent mark.
The name VAUEN
Adolf Eckert made the name in 1909. Pipedia and a German trademark notice of 1909 agree.
DRGM or D.R.G.M.
A German small-patent mark of the Reich years. A general German rule, not a Vauen source.
DBGM or DBP
The small-patent and patent marks of West Germany. A general German rule, not a Vauen source.
Look at the top of the stem for a dot. Then look inside the stem at the filter chamber.
White dot on the stem
Vauen's mark for Germany and Austria from the 1920s. One source only: Pipedia, quoting Vauen.
Light blue or grey dot on the stem
The export dot, after the court case with Dunhill. Pipedia gives only the 1920s. Our 1925 start is an estimate.
A 9 mm filter chamber
The Dr. Perl junior 9 mm filter was first shown in 1934. One source only: Pipedia, quoting Vauen.
Conex: a cone-shaped end of the filter chamber
On most models since 1968, not all. One source only: Pipedia, quoting Vauen.
Silver crossed-pipes mark
The Pipe of the Year mark. Read the year beside it: that is the year. One source only for 1993: Vauen's archive.
What We Don't Know Yet
Published deliberately. If you hold the catalogue, hallmarked example, or period document that closes one of these gaps, write to us — corrections are credited. Every open question across the encyclopedia is gathered on the Open Questions page.
Changelog
Sources
Holding a Vauenyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
Vauen in the Shop