August Claas

German entrepreneur who founded CLAAS in 1913 in Herzebrock, Germany, initially manufacturing straw binders with his brothers Franz, Bernhard, and Theo. The family business moved to Harsewinkel in 1919 and became a global leader in agricultural harvesting technology, producing Europe's first combine harvester designed for European conditions in 1936. CLAAS remains one of the world's leading agricultural engineering companies, now in its fourth generation of family ownership.