AMAZONE 1950

Once upon a time…

This view of the main factory in Hasbergen-Gaste was taken in 1950, shortly after the Second World War. The picture shows the factory from the east with three chimneys. The largest belonged to the boiler house with a steam engine, which produced the energy and heat required by the company. The boiler was heated mainly using waste wood from the production of fertiliser spreaders, potato sorters and the like. 

The boiler house was demolished in January 2006, while the chimney had to be dismantled earlier than that for reasons of dilapidation. The smaller chimney belonged to the former steam engine, from which the lathes and drills were driven via transmission shafts until around 1937. Next to it was a water tower to supply the steam engine, which became redundant in 1950. The chimney and water tower were demolished around 1951.

Then there was the small third chimney. It belonged to a large forge hearth in which the steel rings for the large wooden wheels of the fertiliser spreaders were made red-hot and, with two strong men using tongs, taken out of the fire and hammered onto the wooden wheels and quickly dipped into water so that the wood of the wheels did not burn.

After the war, the factory was shut down for about six months. The British forces had converted the site into a transit camp for German soldiers who were being repatriated after the war. Every day, up to 10,000 war veterans were driven to the factory by British soldiers on military lorries, fed there for a day, housed overnight and transported on the next day. For many years, former soldiers have fond memories of their stay at AMAZONE, their last day in captivity, and then their release to freedom.

AMAZONE was then allowed to manufacture agricultural machinery again, and the company started up again with around 50 employees under the management of Dipl. Eng. Heinrich Dreyer. This is an important part of the 140-year history of Amazonen-WERKE.

The oldest "AMAZONE"

Other companies usually quote the establishment of a manual fabrication workshop as the year of foundation. With AMAZONE, however, things are different. The foundation of the factory for agricultural equipment is always quoted here - that was in 1883. The Dreyer family had also been involved in the manufacture of agricultural machinery and equipment for several generations, albeit on a manual fabrication basis. In other words, customised production. The grandfather of founder Heinrich Dreyer, Johann Caspar Dreyer, supplied a grain cleaning machine, known as the Wannemühle, to the city of Osnabrück in around 1780. Heinrich Dreyer documented this in his chronicle and reacquired this machine from the city in around 1938. It stands in all its splendour, and is very well preserved, in our museum at Gut Wambergen. This winnower is very elaborately made entirely of oak, with fittings of hand-forged iron, and certainly cost a relatively large amount of money. It is still fully functional today, although it shows clear signs of wear. Even back then, the Dreyers had the motto: The most important thing is good quality and optimum function.