The Carl Benz-Motorwagen patent issued in 1886 was the first practical motor car patent granted of its kind. What you might not know is that it was Carl’s wife, Bertha, who taught the world the practical way to use a car on her cross-country trek with her sons Eugene and Richard from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 1888. You may also not know that it was her dowry that funded Carl’s development of that 1st patent.
The trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim is pretty famous. It was very long, with several stops at pharmacies for petroleum. Stuck wheels in mud. But imagine the press next day: “It would have been much easier to use a horse cart. There is no infrastructure (gas stations or smooth roads) for Automobiles. It will take years and millions until people will adapt to Automobiles”. Sounds very similar to today’s EV adaptation.
She’s a role model ignoring the #reichweitenangst (fear of lack of range), which is dominating the discussion about electric cars today. Let’s be more like Bertha!
Bertha was born in 1849 in Pforzheim, Germany. She met Karl and as an independent woman, invested her own personal funds into his business before they were even married. He later used this money to fund his ‘horseless carriage’ project which became the ‘Benz Patent-Motorwagon’.
The car broke down 3 times. Each time she fixed it herself using her shoe laces and hosiery. Super cool lady.
She also helped to improve the product. On the way to her mother, she asked a local tailor to attach lether pads to the brakes. After she returned, she explained her experience on slopes and Carl added additional gear to the vehicle. She actually can be considered a very first automotive test engineer 🙂
Happy Women’s Day!
Stuttgart547 