History

- Kleine Straße - around 1898

The town of Wildeshausen is the place of the foundation of the SCHRÖDER-group and until today its headquarters are located there. Here, south of Oldenburg, in the middle of the wide-open, typical landscape of northern germany, Berend Heinrich Schröder established a smith´s shop in 1810. Already three years later his business is mentioned in the church´s chronicle with a remarkable historical occasion: as one of his first customers, Napoleon Bonaparte - on his journey through with his retinue - had his horse shoed in Schröders forge. Certainly that story got around quickly and led to popularity of the yet young business. From year to year it grew steadily and became firmly established in Wildeshausen. SCHRÖDER evolved into a well known business recognized by farmers from the wide surroundings of the town. But the company´s service did not only remain with horse-shoeing and general metal works. The people working at SCHRÖDER knew farming from their own experience, they knew about the hard work the farmers did and intended to make the work easier. Therefor the company started to produce vehicles, slewing machines and turnip cutters, among other things. The business grew with its tasks: at the turn of the century it had already twenty employees.

1st reaper at Gut Altona 1899

SCHRÖDER more and more developed into a company specialised on agricultural machinery. During the Second World War from 1939 to 1945 the stagnation of the development was inevitable. But also under these complicating circumstances, SCHRÖDER was always present for the agriculture that they helped the population with food supply. After the end of the war SCHRÖDER were one of the first to to roll up their sleeves and invest into the future. Under the management of the company senior Heinrich Schröder, who meanwhile has died, the company constantly has been expanded. In these years the foundations for the coming success was layed. The accession of his son Hermann Heinrich Schröder, who is a trained trader and technician, in 1953 was very supportive to the company. With commercial farsightedness combined with enormous technical know-how, a grand clientele could be developed early. SCHRÖDER´s upswing came along with the introduction of the combine harvester. In retrospect the decision for the brand CLAAS proved right. More then 4,000 CLAAS combine harvester have been sold since then.

1st. combine harvest at Meyer Spasche

The clientele increased rapidly as well as the companies activities and shortly SCHRÖDER also operated far behind the borders of Wildeshausen. It was only a matter of time until the foundation of the first branch. Already in 1959 SCHRÖDER established a new office in Völkersen near Verden. In 1963 SCHRÖDER took over a company in Cloppenburg and with it the representation of FENDT for the local area. Since then more than 5,000 FENDT tractors have been delivered - yet another important factor in SCHRÖDERS success story. Another branch office in Twistringen was added in 1969. In 1983 the company took another big step forward; SCHRÖDER extended their catchment area to the southwest: Herman Heinrich Schröder and the managing associate Rudolf Sprehe took over the company Reinhold Wesselman GmbH and founded the Wesselmann & Schröder Agricultural Engines Company in Nieholte-Lastrup. More branch offices followed. Simultaneously the branch office in Cloppenburg was given up, because of the geographical position. With the accession of Herman Heinrich Schröders´ sons, Heiner and Volker Schröder, in 1983 resp. 1984, the family business proceeded to the next generation. The German Unification initiated a further phase of expansion. Shortly after the borders have been opened, SCHRÖDER went on expanding and is today represented in the federal states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Sachsen-Anhalt: in Penzlin near Neubrandenburg, in Kleinmangelsdorf in the district of Genthin and in Langenweddingen near Magdeburg. I the summer of 1998 another branch office in Wirdumer-Neuland near the city Norden was established to be able to also supply the area of Ostfriesland with high-quality farming equipment. With the start-up of the S & R Landmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG on January 1st of 2001 the distribution grid of the branches is continued to expand, by integrating the previous RCG branches. In order to be able to operate internationally , the SCHRÖDER-group has a base together with the MEWI Import-Export GmbH in Ortisoara near Timisoara in Romania, concentrated on the sales of second-hand machinery. Overall there are over 240,000 square meters in use in the 20 locations, of which a big part is roofed. At the present time the SCHRÖDER-group employs about 400 people. The slight employee turnover shows that you can feel comfortable at SCHRÖDER. The number of employees of many years is above average, thereof a high proportion of employees with 25 or more years of seniority. Since its foundation, SCHRÖDER is family-owned. Today the business is managed in the sixth generation already. Hermann Heinrich Schröder and his three sons Heiner, Volker and Bernd are operating the medium-sized company.

Heinrich Schröder	Hermann Schröder	Hermann Schröder with his sons Bernd, Heiner und Volker