Anton Schlüter München

Anton Schlüter München (also spelled: Anton Schlueter Muenchen) was a German tractor manufacturer in the region of Munich, Bavaria. Amongst farmers and tractor enthusiasts, this brand is usually known simplified, as Schlüter (also spelled: Schlueter).

The company Anton Schlüter München was founded in 1898, by councillor of commerce (German:Kommerzienrat) Anton Schlüter. In the beginning, the primary objective of the company was the production of gasoline engines and multi-fuel engines. Twelve years after the foundation of the company, Anton Schlüter acquired an own foundry. It was located in Freising, a town near Munich. In 1910, new buildings were constructed by the architects Jakob Heilmann and Max Littmann. After one more year, Schlüter built a test area, the so-called Schlüterhof.

In 1937, Schlüter launched the production of tractors. Because the Second World War caused a lack of gasoline, upon the year 1942 there were also produced tractors and generators powered by wood gasifiers within a power range of 25 to 50 hp. Caused by air raids, dedicated to Munich and Freising, most of the plant in Munich and the foundry in Freising were destroyed by bombs. When Anton Schlüter (junior) took over business after the dead of his father in 1949, he decided not to re-edify the facilities in Munich. Instead of Munich and Freising, the whole company was moved to Freising. Freising was the only place where the headquarters and all compartments of production were concentrated. Since the year 1964, Schlüter was specialized in tractors of the upper power range. At that time, that meant engines till 320 hp. Quite an exception in that era were tractors which obtained four tires of the same size, represented by the Super Trac series. The Profi Trac series were equipped with four equally sized tires, mounted on two steerable axles instead of just one. The rear axle of this Profi Trac tractors could steer in the opposite or same direction as the front axle, as well as steering not at all. In 1978, a unique specimen was built, the so-called Profi Trac 5000 TVL with 500 hp. At its appearance, it was regarded as the most powerful tractor of entire Europe. One reason for the construction of this tractor was an order from the former Yugoslavian president Tito. But the idea of a series production of this type was cancelled, caused by political changes in former Yugoslavia. Nowadays, the only existing specimen of a Profi Trac 5000 TVL is possessed by a private person in Bavaria. In 1989, Schlüter presented a new line of products. Its name was Euro Trac. Specific for these new tractors were its driver’s cab in the middle of both axes, together with relocatable ballast weight, placed on top of the front axis. More or less, this tractor was almost similar to the MB-trac. Despite of this latest development, the brand competition amongst tractor producing companies was rough at that time. Schlüter suffered on a technical delay in those years. Furthermore, one of the results of the German Reunification was that the demand of so-called system tractors (German:Systemtraktoren). The specialist term system tractors describes tractors, which offer a third or fourth opportunity to fix machines or containers, like above the front or the rear axle. For instance, the MB-trac or Fendt GT were considered as system tractors, also the Unimog or the Fastrac. Generally, the demand of such tractors became lower, while more powerful standard tractors were required. As a result of all those contemporaneous circumstances, only 184 Euro Trac were built until the Schlüter company went bankrupt.

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