Who doesn't know the skyline of Frankfurt? More than a hundred buildings in the city exceed a height of 22 meters and can thus officially call themselves high-rise buildings. However, the 32 buildings that are taller than 100 meters are the ones that really shape the skyline. Almost half of them are real skyscrapers with a height of at least 150 meters."Mainhattan"wants to bring the international flair of the American model Manhattan to the middle of Germany. The Main Tower with its viewing platform at a height of 200 metres is one of the most interesting sights. From here, the city of Frankfurt lies at your feet and you have a breathtaking view.
Skyline and a good view: What is unique for tourists in the financial metropolis is part of everyday work for farmer and contractor Georg Wilhelm Völger. He sits relaxed in the skyline cab of his Fendt 6335 C and makes his rounds, just under 30 kilometres from the Main Tower, in the tranquil town of Arheilgen just outside Darmstadt. Völger's perfect view of the cutterbar, the stubble and the unloading pipe corresponds to the tourists' perspective from the viewing platforms down to the tranquil street cafés. If he uses the large, electrically adjustable mirrors or the standard camera function in the 10.4" vario terminal, with a little imagination he can almost see as far as the Main metropolis.

It is mid-July and Georg Wilhelm Völger has a wheat field in front of him, which he is harvesting lane by lane. It is his fifty-eighth threshing season, his second with a Fendt combine. Even as a child, he could be found on his grandfather's thresher during the summer months.
Over the decades, both the quality of the technology and the working comfort for the driver have constantly developed. The 69-year-old therefore knows exactly what is important to him when harvesting. And so he made a conscious decision to invest in Fendt's harvesting technology division. "As far as the view, comfort and atmosphere are concerned, I wouldn't want to swap places with any tourist," explains the passionate arable farmer, looking at his new purchase from last year. Combine harvesting is and remains a matter for the boss on the arable farm.

A lot has changed on Georg Wilhelm Völger's farm in the last 25 years. He has consistently developed his business. Just like Fendt. Both companies have evolved from specialists to full-liners. From tractors to threshers to forage harvesting. Paths that are not unknown to either company. Critics claim that the strategy of the agricultural engineering companies has some pitfalls in store for practical use, but Völger makes the advantages clear: "You already know the logic of operation from the tractors and can therefore quickly get to grips with the combine harvester, for example. The biggest advantage, however, is the data management and handling, because this is now all of a piece.
The argument that many farmers do not buy according to colour, but according to function and quality, does not count for Völger either. Because he is thoroughly convinced of Fendt's product range: only a satisfied customer is a customer, otherwise he goes to the competitor. For him, the quality of the manufacturer is decisive.
"Every piece of equipment is only as good as its dealer or dealer network. In our case, it is RWZ Riedstadt-Wolfskehlen, with whom we have been working successfully for years. Agriculture is a seasonal business and the technology has to work when it is needed. I have to be able to rely on the reliability of man and machine - even if I and my son, as trained automotive mechatronics engineers, can do a lot of work ourselves in the workshop."
Georg Wilhelm Völger's heart beats for agriculture. A passion that has been passed down in the family for generations. In order to be able to live this passion, the farmer had to embark on new paths. For a long time, the farm was located in the heart of Arheilgen, a suburb of Darmstadt. But there the air to breathe was taken away from him. The old farm was small and not designed for the modern, ever-increasing technology. So the Völgers were forced to take a new path. However, the arable farm with special crops was not only to go out into the countryside outside the city limits. No, Georg Wilhelm ​Völger and his wife Irmtraut wanted to restructure the business and make it fit for the future, so that the two sons were offered a perspective for a ​possible start.
As a family business, the Völgers worked together on a strategy to make the company fit for the future. They set out on this path at the end of the 1970s - with the purchase of the first brand-new Fendt tractor. Since then, a further 20 tractors have made their way to the Main metropolis, almost half of which are on the farm today. "We have all the series on the farm, with the exception of the ​300 series," explains the entrepreneur proudly.
For many years, the farm, which today covers 220 hectares, was managed with grassland and arable farming in a regionally typical way. This also included the cultivation of asparagus. The area between Darmstadt and Frankfurt is by far the largest cultivation area for this noble vegetable in Hesse. But the special crop takes its toll. In spring, everything revolved around the asparagus. The workload in the first half of the year was enormous. Only at the end of the harvest season was it possible to concentrate on the other arable crops. Things were not to continue like this. The family council's idea: full-liner instead of specialist, and for that full time, spread over the whole year. A strategy that coincides with that of Fendt.

The new start at the Arheilgen site was the beginning of restructuring: services instead of special crops. With the cultivation of 70 hectares of grassland and 150 hectares of arable land, the farm manager was not working to capacity. The cultivation of cereals, maize and sugar beet and the marketing of the grassland products were not enough for Völger. The same applies to agricultural technology, because the farmer relies on self-mechanisation. Thus, there has always been sufficient technology available on the farm. "Utilisation is not the top priority, it is much more important that the technology is available when there is work to be done," explains Völger. However, the entrepreneur does not want to completely neglect profitability; after all, he also has to act sustainably. He has the financial metropolis of Frankfurt breathing down his neck as a role model.
The foundation of the agricultural contracting company was the logical first step towards becoming a service provider. At the same time, however, the entrepreneur emphasizes: "Our roots lie in agriculture, which is still an integral part of our daily work routine. From then on, things went from strength to strength. In 1996, the commercial enterprise was founded, initially exclusively as a winter service provider, later the specialist area of gardening and landscaping was added. The love of nature thus created new branches of the business.
Today, the family business is active as a master craftsman's company for private and commercial clients in all aspects of landscape, playground, house and garden. Of course, Völger can no longer manage the workload alone. 56 employees are now employed all year round. The planning of the staff is easy for Wilhelm Völger - he gained experience in this regard during his heyday with the special crops. The agricultural business is managed by two employees, all the others are active in the service sector.
The biggest advantage for the entrepreneur is that he can use his existing technology in all areas - primarily, of course, the tractors from 50 to 415 hp. This pays off twice for Völger's bottom line, because the added value also increases. "The calculation is quite simple. 1,000 hours on my farm stacking bales brings me a different return than 1,000 hours of use in landscaping or winter services. The purpose of use determines the profitability here. The target is therefore between 950 and 1,000 operating hours per tractor." And once again Georg Völger has focused on what is really important. Full-Time, Full-Line.