Bertha Benz: the Woman Who Taught Us How to Drive

By Linda Harris Sittig

On a travel poster for Southwestern Germany, you might see images of rolling hills, verdant pastures, and ancient stone castles. Vineyards, quaint villages, and the entrance to the Black Forest are not far away.

But neither is a historic route that changed the future of humanity, thanks to Bertha Ringer Benz.

Born in 1849 to a wealthy family in the area called Baden, Bertha met Karl Benz when she was a teen.

At age 21, she granted him a portion of her dowry to invest in an iron construction company. The company failed, but the love interest did not. Two years later, in 1872, Bertha Ringer married Karl Benz, and they settled in the town of Mannheim.

As Karl attempted various inventions, he often fell back on the financial support of his wife. Bertha did not mind. She was, by all accounts, an intelligent woman. However, Bertha was also a visionary. She saw the possibilities in his ideas.

In 1885 Karl finished work on his horseless carriage, which he called his Motorwagen. Together with Bertha as his muse and business partner, he applied for a patent in 1886. Under German law at that time, Bertha could not be named as a co-inventor on the patent.

Bertha instinctively knew the Motorwagen could transform transportation. Karl, however, was a perfectionist and would not allow the car out in public, except for very short distances.

One bright summer morning in 1888, as dawn broke on the horizon, Bertha quietly gathered their two oldest children, 13-year-old Eugen, and 12-year-old Richard. They tiptoed out of the house and silently pushed the Motorwagen out into the street. Good-bye, Mannheim! They were on their way!

Bertha planned to motor to her mother’s house in Pforzheim, a distance of 106 km (66 miles) southeast. Remember that in 1888, rural roads were mostly dirt, maps for distance travel were few and far between, and of course, there were no gas stations!

Bertha knew she would become a spectacle along the route. People would marvel at the Motorwagen and talk about the woman driving it. A sly smile spread across her face as she steered the Motorwagen out of town.

The car she drove was the Model III, which only had two gears, no fuel tank, and a 4.5 litre (1.18 gallons) supply of petrol in the carburetor.

They were not far into their journey when Bertha had to stop for more petrol. The only substance available was ligroin, a petroleum solvent, and it was only available at apothecary (pharmacy) shops. The trip then involved stopping at many apothecary shops along the way.

Later they developed a problem with the wooden brakes, so Bertha stopped at a cobbler’s shop and asked him to fit the brakes with leather strips – thus inventing brake linings. Each time they stopped, Bertha made notes about the problems they encountered and how she fixed them.

Later the fuel line became clogged. Bertha stopped the vehicle, inspected the problem, and then jabbed her long hat pin into the valve to open the clog. It would take Bertha 12 hours to travel the 66 miles to her mother’s house, and yes, all along the way, people stopped and stared at the incredible sight of a motor carriage without horses!

Once she arrived at Pforzheim, Bertha sent Karl a telegram, announcing that she and the boys and the Motorwagen were safe. She also revealed to Karl that he would have to build an additional gear because she and the boys had to push the Motorwagen up the steep hills!

Her innate sense for marketing and her trip, the first of its kind, generated a tremendous amount of publicity. Bertha had made her mark. But just as important, she helped to improve her husband’s invention of the gas-powered car.

In 1906 Karl and Bertha moved their operation to Ladenburg, where she and Karl established a family automobile business. Eventually, Karl merged his company with the DMG Company, and after Karl died in 1929, the company became known familiarly as Mercedes Benz.

Bertha continued to motor behind the wheel well into her old age and died in 1944, two days after her 95^th birthday. Today, the Bertha Benz Memorial Route allows tourists to follow Bertha’s groundbreaking journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim and imagine her trip in 1888. Check out this link on YouTube for a glimpse into history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsGrFYD5Nfs. It is called Bertha Benz: the Journey That Changed Everything.

While Bertha Ringer Benz was the first person to market the idea of a test drive, she also propelled the automobile industry into mankind’s future. One Strong Woman!

Thank you, Barb Anderson, of North Carolina, for sharing Bertha’s story with me.

As we move into spring, you can catch me on https://www.lindasittig.com or Twitter @LHsittig, Facebook as linda sittig, Instagram @LHsittig, and LinkedIn. I am anticipating the publication of two new books this year, and am mulling over an idea for a fourth book in the Threads of Courage Series, available in bookstores and online.

~ Linda