The archivist

His professional career led Karl Prillinger from a journeyman miller to a spare parts wholesaler, while his passion for agricultural technology made him a recognized researcher and archivist of the largest collection of historical agricultural technology prints known in Europe.

The archivist

Commercial Council Prof. Karl Prillinger

From 1975 to 2008 Commercial Councilor Professor Karl Prillinger successfully built up his spare parts wholesale company for agricultural technology in Wels (Upper Austria).

Today the company is one of the most well-known wholesalers of agricultural technology in Austria and has subsidiaries in five EU countries. Since 2008, Prillinger GmbH has been run by the younger generation.

The creation of the agricultural historical archive

It is thanks to Prof. Prillinger's irrepressible passion for collecting and his great historical knowledge that his agricultural history archive has become Europe's largest collection of documents on the subject of agricultural engineering.

From a miller's son to a spare parts wholesaler

Karl Prillinger: The life path of a visionary

The beginnings of a wholesale company

The trained miller began to work in the agricultural machinery production Feldherr, which was newly founded by his parents at the time, after his parents' mill had closed. In 1961, Karl Prillinger started building up a spare parts wholesaler as the company's second mainstay.

After the death of his parents in 1975, Karl Prillinger and his brother Erwin took over the company, concentrating on and expanding the spare parts business. From 1982 Karl Prillinger continued to run the company on his own and expanded the production and wholesale of spare parts. The name Prillinger quickly became well known, especially in connection with single-grain and drilling technology (seed drills).

Specialization brings success

At the end of the 1980s, Karl Prillinger recognized the importance of specialization for the company's economic development. He made the groundbreaking decision to discontinue agricultural machinery production and to focus the company completely on the production and trading of spare parts.

Courage to expand into future markets

The turning point in 1989 and the associated opening up to the east marked the start of the company's expansion into neighboring countries. Prillinger was one of the first companies to set up subsidiaries in neighboring countries to the east. The Czech Republic was followed by foundations in Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia. Due to the expansion, the continuous growth and the expansion of the range, additional storage space was required and the central warehouse in Wels was expanded.

In addition to managing his company, Karl Prillinger was Vice President of Messe Wels from 1990 to 1997 and actively shaped the business location of Wels.

In 2000, Karl Prillinger retired from operational management and now concentrated on the strategic management of the company. During this phase, spare parts sales were also expanded to include neighboring countries to the west.

Prillinger is one of the most well-known spare parts wholesalers in Austria

In 2008, Karl Prillinger withdrew completely from his company, which meanwhile had an annual turnover of 47 million euros and 200 employees, and handed it over to his daughter Anna-Maria and son-in-law Franz Edlbauer, who have been managing and continuously expanding the company since then.

Today Prillinger Gesellschaft mbH has branches in seven European countries, 250 employees and an annual turnover of 80 million euros.

The Agricultural History Archive

In the meantime, Karl Prillinger discovered the value of the past for the future, namely the importance of the historical development of agricultural technology and its impact on our standard of living, and laid the foundation for the agricultural history archive.