Shareholder and longstanding CEO of the Amazone Group, Dr Heinz Dreyer sadly passed away on February 17, 2023 at the age of 90. The group said that it has lost an unparalleled investor from the agricultural machinery sector and a passionate family business owner.
The eldest son of Heinrich Dreyer, one of the successors to Amazonen-Werke, Dr Dreyer was selected as his father’s successor at an early age. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and, after graduating in 1956, continued at the university as a freelancer with a research contract from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (Bonn) in order to complete his doctorate.
Following the sudden death of his father in November 1957, Dr Dreyer immediately joined Amazonen-Werke, alongside his cousin Klaus Dreyer, and they took over the management of the company together at the beginning of 1958. In addition to the necessary expansion of the company, Dr Dreyer completed his doctorate from the Justus Liebig University in Gießen in 1963.
He married Magdalene Teich, the daughter of a businessman from Lower Bavaria in 1960 and the couple had four children Petra, Nicoline, Konstanze and Justus, who became his successor as CEO of the company.
Revered inventor
Dr Dreyer shaped sustainable development in the Amazone Group for many decades. As soon as he joined the company’s management team in 1958, he demonstrated a strong commitment to research and product development. The development of agricultural machinery was always a matter very close to his heart with numerous pioneering inventions and patents credited to him. For example, he invented the first ZA three-point linkage mounted, twin disc fertiliser spreader, which later became the forerunner to almost every other fertiliser spreader used around the world.
He set further milestones with the design of seed drills for larger working widths and invented the Amazone D4 tractor-mounted seed drill, which soon enabled the company to become market leader in this field as well. Ahead of his time, he turned his attention to the progressive method of direct seeding as early as 1975 and invented a chisel opener for this purpose.
His achievements were recognised in many ways and he was celebrated and awarded many times, receiving top-level scientific awards and honorary degrees for his work.
This commitment to innovation, combined with high standards for quality and the ability to communicate on equal terms with farmers and scientists from all over the world, were the keys to his success.
Over the years, Dr Dreyer firmly anchored these Amazone virtues across the entire company and he always emphasised the importance of having a family working environment in all areas of the company.
As the third generation of the Dreyer family, he played a major role in building up the company and developed it into a global agricultural machinery manufacturer with his business acumen. The continued independence of the owner-managed family business was always at the centre of his decision making. Dr Dreyer transferred his management responsibilities to his son, Dr. Justus Dreyer, in 2005 but he continued to be responsible for Amazone seeding systems and their optimum fertilisation and maintained strong links with universities.
Amazone Group said that the death of Dr. Heinz Dreyer has left a huge hole in the company. The family, the entire management team and all employees will respectfully continue his life’s work.
