Ag machinery trailblazer, Helmut Claas, dies

German machinery specialist, CLAAS Group, has announced the passing of its long-time leader and pioneer– Helmut Claas on January 5 at the age of 94.

The company said the news came as a great shock to the industry, with Claas’s friends, family and entire CLAAS staff of over 11,000 now in mourning.

The CLAAS Group’s success today was largely thanks to Helmut’s leadership and desire to innovate.

Born in 1926 in Harsewinkel, Germany, Helmut cut his teeth in machinery and engineering. His father, August Claas, founded the CLAAS Group in 1913 and by the time Helmut was born, the company has a workforce of about 100.

After graduating from school, Helmut completed an apprenticeship as a machine fitter and went on to gain practical experience in metalworking firms. After a complementary study of agriculture in Paris, he took over the planning and establishment of a CLAAS distributor in France, which now operates as CLAAS France SAS.

He formally joined his parents' firm in Harsewinkel in 1958 where he put his engineering and practical skills to use.

In 1962, he was appointed Managing Director of the CLAAS Group and became a Personally Liable Partner when the company was reconstituted as a general partnership in 1978. In 1996, as part of the restructuring of the firm into a joint-stock company, he switched from the role of Managing Director to the Chairman of both the Supervisory Board and the Shareholders’ Committee.

Helmut Claas’s focus was always on pioneering products and mass-producing them economically. During his time in office, CLAAS produced some of its most iconic products including the LEXION combine harvester, the JAGUAR forage harvester and the large tractor XERION.

In 2003, he led the way in helping the company take over the complete tractor business from Renault Agriculture in France. Under his leadership, CLAAS successfully expanded its presence not just in Europe but overseas, with the establishment and expansion of production sites in Russia, the USA and China.

As testament to Helmut Claas’s achievements in advancing farm machinery and engineering, he has received countless awards and titles from prestigious institutions and organisations around the world.

Four internationally renowned universities in Hungary, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria and Germany awarded honorary doctorates to Helmut Claas. In 2000, the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim awarded him with a 'Doctor of Agricultural Science' and made him an Honorary Senator in 2004.

In June 2009 the Goryachkin University in Moscow bestowed an honorary professorship upon him. Also in 2009, Helmut Claas was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honour in recognition of his efforts as a pioneer of Franco-German cooperation. In November 2013, Helmut Claas was inducted into the Hall of Fame of American Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). In 2017, he was awarded the Diesel medal by the German Institute of Inventions.

In addition, he was made an honorary citizen of his home town of Harsewinkel, Germany, as well as received the Medal of Merit of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and the Order of Merit of the French Agriculture Minister.

Above everything, Helmut Claas was also a farmer. He ran a farm in East Anglia in Great Britain and often stayed there with his wife, Erika. He enjoyed keeping in touch with farmers in the neighbourhood and took a keen interest in issues concerning agriculture. He also had a passion for hunting.

Today, his daughter, Cathrina Claas-Mühlhäuser- also current Chair of the CLAAS Group Supervisory Board- manages the decision-making and development of the CLAAS Group.

“The death of Helmut Claas leaves behind a space in the world of agricultural technology that cannot be filled,” said the CLAAS Group in a media statement.

“His family, all the shareholders, the Group Executive Board, and the staff are mourning the passing of a great personality and will continue to develop the CLAAS Group as he would have wished.”