Bertha Benz

Information about 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, fourteen and fifteen years old, in one of Benz's newly-constructed "Patent Motorwagen" automobiles — from Mannheim to Pforzheim — becoming the first person to drive an automobile over more than a very short distance. The distance was more than 106 km (more than sixty miles). Distances traveled before this historic trip were short, and merely trials with mechanical assistants.

Although the primary purpose of the trip was to visit her mother, Bertha Benz also had another motive: to show her brilliant husband — who had failed to consider marketing his invention adequately — that the automobile would become a financial success once it was shown to be useful to the general public.

Enlarge picture
Replica of the Benz Patent Motorwagen built in 1885 — 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 available — sometimes — only at chemists' shops. A blacksmith had to help with a chain at one point. Brake linings needed replacement. Bertha Benz had to use a long, straight hairpin to clean a fuel pipe which had become blocked and to insulate a wire with a garter. 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 automobile and the novel trip received a great deal of publicity — as she had sought. The drive was very helpful for Karl Benz, as he was able to introduce several improvements after his wife reported everything that had happened along the way — and she made important suggestions, such as the introduction of an additional gear for greater ease climbing hills.

Berta Benz died at the old age of 95 in Ladenburg, where the first workshop of Karl Benz had stood.

In Germany, a festive annual holiday celebrates this historic trip of Bertha Benz and features antique automobiles.

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Pforzheim

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"Das Lied der Deutschen" (third stanza)
also called "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
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Karl Friedrich Benz, for whom an alternate French spelling of Carl is used ocassionaly, (November 25, 1844, Karlsruhe, Germany – April 4, 1929, Ladenburg, Germany) was a German engine designer and automobile engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the
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automobile (from Greek auto, self and Latin mobile moving, a vehicle that moves itself rather than being moved by another vehicle or animal) or motor car (usually shortened to just car) is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor.
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Patent Motorwagen (or Motor Car), introduced in 1886, is widely regarded as the first purpose-built automobile, that is a vehicle designed from the ground up to be motorized. Benz unveiled it officially on July 3, 1886 on the Ringstraße in Mannheim, Germany.
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automobile (from Greek auto, self and Latin mobile moving, a vehicle that moves itself rather than being moved by another vehicle or animal) or motor car (usually shortened to just car) is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor.
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Mannheim

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Marketing is a social process which satisfies consumers' wants. The term includes advertising, distribution and selling of a product or service. It is also concerned with anticipating the customers' future needs and wants, often through market research.
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Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of aliphatic hydrocarbons and enhanced with aromatic hydrocarbons toluene, benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines.
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Fuel is any material that is burnt or altered in order to obtain energy.[1] Fuel releases its energy either through chemical means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion.
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chemist is a scientist trained in the science of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its small-scale properties such as density and acidity instead of large-scale properties like size and shape.
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blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by "forging" the metal; i.e., by using hand tools to hammer, bend, cut, and otherwise shape it in its non-liquid form. Usually the metal is heated until it glows red or orange as part of the forging process.
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CHAIN can refer to:
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Brake linings are the consumable surfaces in braking systems, especially those used in vehicles.

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Brake linings are composed of a relatively soft but tough and heat-resistant material with a high coefficient of dynamic friction (and ideally an
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hair pin or hairpin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place.

Hairpins made of metal, ivory, bronze, carved wood, etc. were used in ancient Assyria and Egypt for securing decorated hairstyles.
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Telegraphy (from the Greek words (τηλη) = far and (γραφειν) = write) is the long-distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally by changing something that could
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A gear is a component within a transmission device that transmits rotational force to another gear or device. A gear is different from a pulley in that a gear is a round wheel which has linkages ("teeth" or "cogs") that mesh with other gear teeth, allowing force to be fully
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The word holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. A contraction of holy and day, holidays originally represented special religious days. This word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day of rest (as opposed to regular days of rest such
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antique (Latin: antiquus; old) is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era in human society.
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