I worked in Geneva for about seven years in the late 80s and early 90s.

For the first three of them, I walked past the Davidoff store every morning, and on the weekends or in the evenings, I often watched the people disappearing into it. As an Appenzeller, the cigar world was completely new to me. Krumme and Rösslistumpen, as they smoked the farmers with us, I looked in vain. However, I was lucky enough to be able to sink into this world from time to time through various colleagues from Appenzell and the rest of German-speaking Switzerland. Mostly after a sumptuous lunch or tasty dinner, one then ordered tobacco from Cuba and puffed this with relish for hours.

The tents in western Switzerland were then broken down and I came back to Appenzell in 1995. What remained was the cigar virus. In the meantime I tried some other tobaccos and also smoked a pipe for a while.

What bothered me more and more was the hectic pace of everyday life and the world of work. Every man or woman told me again and again, no I do not smoke a cigar that goes too long for me. From this then matured the idea in my Appenzeller "Chöpfli" that something must come on the market to meet this need.

The Appenzellers - known as a small people, but who do not need to hide - provided the name.