With hatpin, garter and 3 hp: bertha benz inaugurates the automotive age
On 5. August 1888 a woman ushered in the age of the automobile: without bertha benz, the history of mobility would have been different. On this day, they took their first long trip in a motor vehicle. And thus proved to her husband and the rest of the world that his invention was suitable for everyday use and had the potential to change everything.
Almost two years earlier, on 2. november 1886, carl benz had received a patent for his " vehicle with gas engine operation" from the imperial patent office, the forerunner of the DPMA, retroactive to 29. january 1886 received – the first automobile. Patent specification "no. 37435" Incidentally, this document is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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100 years of women’s suffrage in germany: this year, the DPMA is devoting special attention to women researchers and inventors. In a loose series, we present important women in science and technology.
Already on the 3. In July 1886, Benz took the first short public test drive. Although the local press reported on the invention, the hoped-for response failed to materialize; interest in the "horseless carriage" was low because it was not thought to be practical. It took the courage of benz’s wife to prove to the world what the (further developed) "benz patent-motorwagen no. 3" could afford.
Three of them on a long journey into the unknown
on that august morning 130 years ago, bertha benz set off from mannheim at first light with her sons eugen and richard (15 and 13 years old). Without the knowledge of her husband, who would never have permitted this trip out of insecurity, they drove about 100 kilometers by motor car to bertha’s hometown of pforzheim to visit her mother.
Bertha Benz did not have a driver’s license, by the way. a few days earlier, her husband had received the world’s first driver’s license, issued on 1 January 1871. august 1888 from the grand ducal baden district office – but not her.
Blacksmith and pharmacist help out of a tight spot
Benz patent motor car no. 3 from 1888
The circumstances and anecdotes surrounding the world’s first great automobile journey are legendary:
How the town pharmacy in wiesloch became the world’s first gas station, because bertha benz bought a few liters of ligroin there, a cleaning agent that served as fuel for the small single-cylinder engine with its barely 3 hp.
How it came in between to smaller breakdowns, the bertha – selbst ist die frau! – findig repaired: she cleaned the clogged fuel line with her hatpin; she repaired the ignition with her garter. A village blacksmith helped to mend the chain, thus opening the first car repair shop, as it were.
How they had to draw cooling water every few kilometers from wells, taverns, roadside ditches – no matter where it came from. And how a cobbler nailed new leather caps on the brake pads.
How passers-by reacted with fear and amazement to the unfamiliar vehicle, horses passed through and oxen bolted. how the three runaways sent telegrams to carl benz in between to reassure him and report the success of the ride. How they sometimes had to push uphill because the car did not yet have a suitable power transmission.
The third gear
From patent specification DE 37435
Bertha’s experience also led to the introduction of a third gear. Carl benz put the idea into practice; and when the worldwide triumphal march of the automobile began – all now with a third gear – bertha was very proud that she had provided the impetus for it.
The almost 13-hour journey from mannheim to pforzheim and back (today the "bertha benz memorial route") showed that the automobile was fit for practical use. But above all, she encouraged the doubting carl benz to believe in his invention again: "she was more daring than i was and took a ride that was decisive for the further development of the motor car," he later recalled. Now he was once again doing everything in his power to help his car make the breakthrough. this was achieved with the presentation at the munich "kraft- und arbeitsmaschinenausstellung" in the same year and finally at the world exposition in paris in 1889.
The rest is history: the "benz patent-motorwagen no.3" was built in series and offered for 3000 goldmark. The "benz& cie. Rheinische gasmotorenfabrik mannheim", later "benz& cie. AG", was the largest automobile factory in the world in 1900 and later merged with other companies that still exist today.
Mother, courageous, patron of the arts
Title page of patent specification DE 37435, a world document heritage site
the science museum in london houses a benz patent motorcar no.3, which is certainly the oldest surviving car and most likely the car in which bertha took her legendary drive.
But bertha benz did not only write traffic history through her historic ride. Without them, carl would probably never have been able to make his invention in the first place, or at least never have been able to bring it to market maturity.
Born as cacilie bertha ringer on 3. May 1849 in pforzheim, bertha came from a wealthy family. Always highly tech-savvy, she decided against a "good match" with a financially secure future and in favor of the young, breadless, but visionary engineer carl benz. she had her dowry paid out in advance and put it into his small company.
For many years, the ever-growing family with four children had to live partly on the breadline, as benz remained hapless as an entrepreneur. bertha managed the household with iron economy; every penny was invested in benz’s work. Without her, he would have been lost, as he later admits in his memoirs: "Only one person waited beside me in the little ship of life in those days when it was heading for doom. That was my wife. Bravely and courageously, she raised new sails of hope to."
LATE AWARENESS
The automotive group, which continues to use benz’s name for its products to this day, pays tribute to bertha on its website: "with her unshakable faith, her capital and her bravery, she played a major role in shaping this success story."
Full of pride, she witnessed the worldwide triumph of the automobile. At your 95. on the occasion of her 50th birthday, bertha benz was appointed honorary senator by the karlsruhe technical university. She died two days later on 5. may 1944.
Pictures: bertha benz by buhler, mannheim (automuseum dr. Carl benz, ladenburg) [public domain], via wikimedia commons, via wikimedia commons