An emotional milestone: The 75th anniversary of Erich Dreyer’s death

After the death of company founder Heinrich Dreyer, his two sons Erich Dreyer and Dipl. Eng. Heinrich Dreyer took over the management of the company in 1936. The two formed a successful team and they complemented each other well. While Heinrich Dreyer assumed responsibility for technical development at Amazone, Erich Dreyer developed an excellent instinct for future market trends and new sales opportunities.

The two were helped by the fact that the economic situation improved significantly from the mid-1930s following the global economic crisis and agriculture was given special support with the aim of further developing the agricultural sector, especially in the eastern regions of Germany. Erich Dreyer recognised this at an early stage and decided to open up the market for Amazone in the east.

There were many large companies operating there, but some of the technology used was very antiquated. For example, chain spreaders were still being used to spread fertiliser. The newly developed Amazone roller spreader was lightweight and the technology it used was more advanced, but most of all, it was much more efficient and much cheaper than the existing machinery. At first, it was not easy for Amazone to persuade the sceptical farmers to embrace the new technology. But Erich Dreyer was a salesman with a genuine talent and in the end, he even managed to convince the lord of the manor of the advantages that Amazone technology had to offer. His commitment paid off and the sales figures for the new roller spreader soon went through the roof.

But the terrible consequences of the Second World War then had a devastating impact on Amazone. Erich Dreyer was drafted and then whisked off to the eastern front shortly after completing his training. Unfortunately on the 18th of April, 1945, only twenty days before the war ended, he was killed while retreating in Silesia, in what is now the Czech Republic. His death was catastrophic, not only for the family, but also for AMAZONEN-WERKE.

It was then left up to Dipl. Eng. Heinrich Dreyer to shoulder full responsibility for running the company. The war and the post-war era certainly took their toll on him and in 1957, he died suddenly at the age of only 57.