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Bertha Benz (born Ringer on 3 May 1849 in Pforzheim and died on 5 May 1944 in Ladenburg) was a German inventor and automobile pioneer who played a key role in the development of the first motor car. She is best known for having entered the world's first long-distance race in the Patent-Motorwagen, a car built by her husband, Karl Benz. In 1888, she made history by driving the first long-distance automobile journey between Mannheim and Pforzheim. Carl Benz's wife thus proved that the patented motor car was suitable for everyday use and paved the way for the worldwide success of the automobile.
Early life and marriage
Bertha Ringer was the third of nine children. Her father, Karl Friedrich Ringer, a master builder and carpenter, and her mother, Auguste Friedrich, were wealthy people who invested heavily in their children’s education. She attended a boarding school in Pforzheim for 10 years and was known for her ambition and fascination with technological innovation.
In 1869, Bertha Ringer met Karl Benz at an event for the Eintracht social club. Benz was a passionate inventor whose main interest was developing an engine for a horseless carriage. Ringer believed in Benz’s potential as an inventor, and her admiration for his work led her to invest personal funds in his projects. Although Benz’s vision was promising, he never managed to bring it to fruition.
Benz's Journey and Legacy
In August 1888, Bertha Benz and her sons, Eugen, aged 15, and Richard, aged 13, boarded Karl’s motor car without his knowledge. She left him a note on the dining table, stating that she and their sons were going to visit her mother in Pforzheim. She did not have a driver’s license at the time. Her husband had received the world’s first driver’s license a few days earlier.
Benz's trip with his sons marked the first long-distance automobile journey. The trio traveled from Mannheim to Pforzheim in about 13 hours, covering about 60 miles (96.6 km) of unpaved roads. Karl was informed of the success of the Motorwagen by telegram. During the trip, Bertha made several repairs with simple items at hand. She used her garter to fix the ignition and her bonnet pin to unclog a clogged fuel pipe. They even stopped at a drugstore in Wiesloch to buy a few liters of Ligroin from a pharmacy. Ligroin was a cleaning agent that served as a petroleum-based fuel for the engine of the single-cylinder engine.
On the way back, the brake shoes on the Motorwagen wore out. Benz had the brakes fitted with leather strips, thus inventing brake pads. Throughout her journey, she proved to naysayers that the Motorwagen had potential and helped improve its design. Along the way, she and her sons had to push the Motorwagen uphill, so she suggested to Karl that he add a third, lower gear and brake pads to his next model. These suggestions were implemented in all subsequent models.
On January 29, 1886, Benz filed an imperial patent for his three-wheeled car powered by a single-cylinder, four-stroke gasoline engine. Reich Patent No. 37,435 has been referred to as the birth certificate of the automobile. His design was the world’s first for a practical automobile powered by an internal combustion engine.
Although there had already been “auto-mobiles,” Benz used the internal combustion engine as the drive system for a “self-mover,” according to a Mercedes Benz historian. “He presented his stroke of genius to the Imperial Patent Office—the car was born.” »
Because he would quickly build several identical three-wheeled vehicles, Benz was also credited with the first "production car" in history.
The 1886 Benz engine – with a displacement of 0.954 litres – anticipated design elements still found in modern internal combustion engines, including a crankshaft with balance weights, electric ignition and water cooling (generating 0.55 kW and a top speed of 16 km/h, which is almost the same as a horsepower).
Before Bertha Benz’s journey, most motorized drives were professionally supervised trials. The route the trio took still exists and is known as the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. She was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2016. She and Karl (inducted in 1984) are the only couple to have been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.
“We are thrilled to honor Bertha Benz for her entrepreneurial spirit that played a vital role in creating what is now the global automobile industry,” said William R. Chapin, chairman of the Automotive Hall of Fame. “With Bertha Benz’s induction tonight, this is the first time a husband and wife team has been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, which is truly extraordinary.” »
Bertha Benz enabled her husband Carl Benz to run his own company and continue his invention by providing the financial basis to do so. She invested both her parents’ inheritance and her personality to make a technological breakthrough possible, which required a good understanding and a clear vision of the importance of her husband’s work. It is easy to imagine that Bertha had a very strong personality, because she was certainly not just “the important wife behind an important husband”. Bertha actually pushed him to trust in his abilities to realize his vision, to go through difficult times and to try harder each time.
“My great-grandmother has always been of great importance to me. The role she played in the realization of her husband’s invention has always been an important topic in our family,” said Jutta Benz, great-granddaughter of Bertha and Carl Benz. “As the role of a wife was in the late 1800s, she also had to take care of the family, raise five children, do all the housework, cooking, etc. So that was twice as much as a man. So, if I may say so, it is high time that Bertha Benz was inducted into the Hall of Fame – 32 years after Carl and 130 years after her achievements. For me personally, it is a great satisfaction that my great-grandmother is being honored now.
According to her great-granddaughter Jutta Benz, the car trip was also very courageous, because she did not tell her husband about her plans. If a problem arose, she fixed it. She stopped at a drugstore in Wiesloch that became the first gas station in the world to buy “Ligroin”, a cleaning fluid that kept the car running. Another stop included a shoe store to have the leather on a brake shoe repaired. Her hat pin was used to clean a clogged fuel line, and she solved an ignition wire problem by using her garter as an insulator. This also proves that she had some knowledge of the operating technology of the patented car. Her discoveries also helped Carl Benz further improve the car, so she was also the first quality manager in the automobile industry. With her pioneering journey, she proved that her husband's invention was suitable for everyday use.
But this was only the beginning of a success story for the automobile. This trip not only reaffirmed Carl Benz's work, but also strengthened the sales and marketing efforts to make the Benz patent car a market success.
"In the years that followed and with new products developed, Benz & Company became the world's leading automobile manufacturer at the turn of the century," said Christian Boucke, Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic. We are very proud that Bertha Benz is now in the Automotive Hall of Fame with her husband Carl - she truly deserves it!
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Carl Benz’s automobile patent is a major contributor to world cultural heritage, and it was therefore officially included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in May 2011, demonstrating its global relevance and symbolizing the origin of today’s mobile society.
On the occasion of her 95th birthday, Bertha Benz was appointed Honorary Senator of the Technical University of Karlsruhe.
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