8
CLAAS
CHRONICLE
Index
Introduction, Greetings and Preface
4
The Origins of Harvest Mechanisation
Agriculture in Mesopotamia
12
American Harvesting and Machinery
16
Franz Claas Senior – His Life and Times
21
The Claas Brothers pave the way for the First Combine Harvesters
Foundation of the Gebrüder Claas Company
28
Trussers and Straw Balers
34
Birth of the First Combine
36
From the MDB to the Super
42
Self Propelled Combines
The Arrival of the Hercules
48
Huckepack, Columbus and Europa for the Individual Farm
53
The Senator and Mercator set new Output Standards
57
From the Dominator to the Mega
60
Lexion – King Size Combines
67
All round Capability for Maize, Rice and Other Crops
72
Forage Harvesters and Other Products
Success Story of the Jaguar
80
Everything for the Forage Harvest
85
The World of Baling
90
Other Products
94
Tractors lead into a New Dimension
Renault Agriculture – a long Tractor Tradition
102
Tractors in the Claas Group
112
Xerion – an in-house Development
116
9
The Growth of a Family Company
From Gebrüder Claas to today’s Company
124
The Claas Factories and Subsidiaries
130
From ”Made by Hand“ to Quality Mass Production
138
Apprenticeships and Vocational Training
151
The Distribution Network then and now
The History of the German Sales Company (CVG)
154
Export markets and Globalisation
159
Bernhard Specht – the first global Ambassador
166
Service, Parts and Training
171
Claas Advertising and Public Relations
The Awakening of the Corporate Image
178
Claas on Show
185
The Technoparc – the Company’s Visiting Card
191
Appearances count – Design from Harsewinkel
195
65 years on and still going strong
201
Keeping the Tradition alive
The Archives, Collector’s items and the Claas Museum
206
Apollo Centrepiece of a New Museum
211
Collectibles for All Ages
217
Appendix
Specifications
226
Company Time Line Acknowledgements
232
World Harvest Schedule
236
Greetings
237
List of Authors
237
Picture Sources, Publisher
240
Shaping Farm Technology for over 90 years
