Bertha Benz
Bertha Benz was born in 1849 into a world where women had little chance to get a higher education, even if they were lucky enough to have rich parents. She loved technology and was always curious about how things worked. If she had been born a man, she might have become an engineer, but for a woman in her time that was impossible.
Still, in 1888, Bertha Benz made history. She became the first person to drive a car over a long distance. This was not just a simple trip – it was a journey that changed the future of automobiles.
When she was 20 years old, Bertha met Karl Benz, a brilliant but poor inventor who was five years older than her and had a dream: to build a self-moving carriage. Bertha fell in love both with Karl and with his dream. Two years before they married, she invested some of her money into his company, giving him the financial support to build the world’s first automobile.
By 1888, Karl had created the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, a three-wheeled car with a small engine. Karl believed in his invention, but few people were interested in buying a car. At that time, most people used horses and laughed at the idea of a horseless carriage. The family had serious financial problems but Karl, unsure how to promote his invention, didn’t show it to the public. Bertha, however, wanted to prove that the car was useful.
On August 5, 1888, aged 39, without telling her husband, she took the Motorwagen and set off on a journey with her sons Eugen, aged 15, and Richard, aged 13. Her goal was to visit her mother in Pforzheim, a town about 106 kilometers away from their home in Mannheim, Germany.
The journey was not easy. The car had many problems. Bertha repaired it along the way, using her hairpin and hatpin. At one point she had to visit a pharmacy to buy ligroin, a type of fuel. This pharmacy is now known as the world’s first gas station!
The roads were bad, and sometimes Bertha and her sons had to push the car. But she never gave up. After a long day, they reached Pforzheim. She sent a telegram to Karl, telling him that they had arrived safely.
On the way back home, Bertha made notes about the car’s problems and thought of ways to make it better. Thanks to her trip, Karl improved the Motorwagen. By the early 1900s, Benz & Cie became the world’s largest automobile manufacturer.
Today, Bertha Benz is remembered as a pioneer of the automobile industry. Every year, people drive along the Bertha Benz Memorial Route, which follows her historic journey, celebrating the woman who drove the world into the age of the automobile.