Bertha Benz
Bertha Benz (née
Ringer) (born
3 May 1849 in
Pforzheim,
Germany, married inventor
Karl Benz on
20 July 1872, and died
5 May 1944 in
Ladenburg), was the first person to drive an
automobile over a long distance.
On
5 August 1888 and without her husband's knowledge, she drove her sons, Richard and Eugen, 14 and 15 years old, in Benz's newly-constructed "
Patent Motorwagen"
automobiles from
Mannheim to
Pforzheim, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over more than just a very short distance. This was a distance of more than 106 km (more than fifty miles). Distances traveled before this trip were short and merely trials with mechanical assistants.
Although the primary purpose of the trip was to visit her mother, she also had another motive: to show her brilliant husbandâ€"who failed to consider
marketing his invention adequatelyâ€"that the automobile would become a financial success once it was shown to be useful to the general public.
|
Replica of the Benz Patent Motorwagen built in 1885â€"the prototype of the model first driven a long distance (more than 106 km or sixty miles) by Bertha Benz in 1888 |
Underway, she solved numerous problems. She had to find
petrol or similar
fuels which were availableâ€"sometimesâ€"only at
chemists' shops. A
blacksmith had to help with a
chain at one point. Bertha Benz had to use a long, straight
hairpin to clean a fuel pipe which had become blocked. She left Mannheim around dawn and reached Pforzheim somewhat after dusk, notifying her husband of her successful journey by
telegram. She drove back to Mannheim the next day.
Along the way several people were frightened by the '
horseless carriage' and the novel trip received a great deal of publicityâ€"as she sought. The drive was helpful for Karl Benz, her husband, as he was able to introduce several improvements after his wife reported everything that had happened along the way and she made suggestions, such as, the introduction of an additional
gear for greater ease climbing hills.
In Germany, a festive annual
holiday celebrates this historic trip of Bertha Benz and features
antique automobiles.
*
The famous drive of Bertha Benz* [http://www.cms.daimlerchrysler.com/emb_classic/0,,0-195-78828-49-84707-1-0-0-0-0-0-434-78641-0-0-0-0-0-0-0,00.html The famous drive of Bertha Benz)
