Karl Benz: Father of the Automobile

**Karl Benz – Father of the Automobile**

Looking back on humanity’s achievements, certain landmark moments can be pinpointed that changed the world forever. One such moment was the birth of the automobile, which, like rail transport before it and aviation afterwards, revolutionized how humans moved around. Many people deserve credit for this achievement. The concept of the “first car in the world” is not a settled matter, but the lion’s share of the accolades goes to Karl Benz, who designed and built what is regarded by many as the true first automobile.

They say that behind every great man, there is a great woman, and perhaps there is no better example than Bertha Benz. She supported her husband through thick and thin, enjoying the highs together and using her own money to help him during the lows. Her iconic road trip solidified the car as a practical machine. Bertha’s daringness combined with Karl’s engineering genius ensured that people finally looked at the car as something that could be used in day-to-day life. It would be fair to say that the automotive industry would not be what it is today without Karl Benz.

**Early Years**

Karl Benz, sometimes spelled with a C instead of a K, was born Karl Friedrich Vaillant on November 25, 1844, in the German town of Mühlburg, which today is a borough of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg. His name was Vaillant because his father, Johann Georg Benz, and his mother, Josephine Vaillant, were not married at the time of his birth. They married a few months later, and the baby became Karl Friedrich Benz. Johann Benz was a locomotive driver, but he died in an accident when Karl was only two years old. This left the family in dire financial straits, but his mother did her best to ensure a good education for her son.

Young Karl followed in his father’s footsteps and studied engineering, proving to be a prodigious student from an early age. When he was just 19 years old, Karl Benz graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Karlsruhe in 1864. However, it would be a while before Benz found his vocation in life. He spent the next seven years trying out various jobs with multiple construction and engineering firms throughout Germany, but he found them all unsatisfying. At the same time, he became an avid bicycle rider and enjoyed tinkering with them, fantasizing about a similar vehicle that would be motorized.

In 1871, Karl Benz started his first business. He partnered with a mechanic named August Ritter and opened the Iron Foundry and Mechanical Workshop in Mannheim. The company struggled financially, but fortunately for Benz, he soon found a better partner—his bride-to-be, Bertha Ringer.

**Karl and Bertha**

Bertha Ringer was born in a time when it was believed that women had no business with scientific and mechanical matters. Despite this, Bertha took an interest in engineering from a young age. According to a legend, she became determined to show the world that women were capable of achieving great things after reading her family’s Bible and finding an entry that said “Unfortunately only a girl again,” written by her father on the day she was born.

When Bertha reached marrying age, she had a long list of potential suitors to choose from. Fate led her to share a coach with Karl Benz during an excursion in 1869. The two started talking, and as soon as Karl brought up the horseless carriage he was working on, he captured Bertha’s interest and heart. Despite warnings from her family, Bertha was determined to be with Karl. The couple married in 1872.

Bertha’s support of her husband was unwavering. Her first act was to use part of her dowry to buy out August Ritter’s share in Benz’s company, using the rest of her money to keep the business afloat while Karl worked on new patents. Although Benz was a genius engineer and designer, he was not a shrewd businessman.

**The Benz Companies**

Benz’s first great achievement was his stationary gasoline two-stroke engine, inspired by the work of German engineer Nikolaus Otto, who created the first four-stroke engine in 1861. Benz received a patent for his invention in 1880 and added improvements such as an engine speed regulation system and ignition via a battery system. This new device garnered interest from banks and businessmen who wanted to invest.

Benz converted his business into a joint-stock company named Gasmotoren-Fabrik Mannheim in 1882, but this did not work out as he hoped. After all agreements were completed, Benz ended up owning only five percent of the company and did not have a significant say in how the business was run. His partners had differing ideas on what products to design and sell, and Benz’s ideas often went ignored. Not happy with this arrangement, Karl Benz left the corporation the following year.

Undeterred, Benz looked to start a new company and found partners in Max Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm Esslinger, who owned a bicycle repair shop in Mannheim. Together, they established Benz & Companie Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik, better known as Benz & Co. The business focused on manufacturing engines and proved to be profitable, growing to 25 employees in a short time. This newfound success eased the pressure off Benz and allowed him to indulge in his passion project—building an automobile using his engine.

**The First Car?**

In 1885, Karl Benz finished his magnum opus—the Benz Patent Motorwagen. It was a two-seater vehicle with three wire-spoke wheels and a single-cylinder, gasoline-powered engine capable of producing 0.75 horsepower and reaching top speeds of 10 mph. Other features included a controlled exhaust valve, an automatic intake slide, and high-voltage electrical ignition with a spark plug.

In January of 1886, Benz received patent number 37435 for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine,” known as the “birth certificate of the automobile.” Later in July, Benz drove his car in public for the first time. While it is generally regarded as the first automobile, the question is complex and depends on the definition of an “automobile.” The Motorwagen does not resemble our modern idea of a car, but it was the first vehicle of its kind made commercially available to the public.

Benz’s machine had the advantage of functioning without exploding or falling apart while in operation. Some people consider an automobile simply a self-propelled vehicle powered by some kind of engine, which leads to earlier inventions like the Fardier à vapeur, created by French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769, or other experimental vehicles powered by steam, hydrogen gas, and electricity.

The question of “Who built the first car?” is tricky and does not have a universal answer. However, we can generally agree that the Benz Patent Motorwagen was the first practical automobile, setting in motion the nascent stages of an industry that would grow to become one of the biggest in the world.

**The Trip that Changed Everything**

After the original Motorwagen came out, Benz immediately went back to work, releasing two new and improved models in the next couple of years. However, demand for the Motorwagen was not particularly high. The Benz engine sold well, but the idea of buying a whole vehicle was not appealing. Up until then, self-powered machines were only used in trials over short distances and still needed mechanics on hand. They were expensive and accessible only to the wealthy elite, who considered the Motorwagen too loud and messy.

What the car needed was good public relations. Karl Benz was at his best in the workshop, while Bertha had a better mind for marketing. She realized they needed a stunt to garner publicity and show the car had a purpose. In the early hours of a hot August day in 1888, Bertha Benz embarked on one of the most important automotive journeys in history—the first long-distance trip by car.

Bertha did not inform her husband or the authorities, making her journey technically illegal. She recruited her teenage sons, Richard and Eugen, to join her and left Mannheim, pretending to visit her mother in Pforzheim, 66 miles away. This journey was significantly longer than any previously attempted in a motorized carriage.

Bertha faced numerous challenges, including unsuitable roads, the need to refuel every 15 to 20 miles, and a lack of gas stations. She stopped at a pharmacy in Wiesloch to buy ligroin, a petroleum-based solvent, which startled the chemist who assumed she wanted it for cleaning clothes. Bertha purchased three liters, and that pharmacy is now branded as the first fuel station in the world.

Other challenges included refilling the water tank, fixing a broken chain, replacing worn leather brake pads, and navigating steep hills. Bertha even used her garter to plug a leak and hairpins to clear clogged valves. The 66-mile journey took over 12 hours, but they arrived safely in Pforzheim.

The trip achieved its goal, garnering attention and changing perceptions of the Benz Patent Motorwagen. A few days later, Bertha and the boys returned home on a different route, further promoting the car. Bertha identified ways to improve the vehicle, such as adding a new gear for climbing hills. In 2008, this journey was declared a European Route of Industrial Heritage, celebrated with a parade of antique cars every two years.

**Finding Success**

Bertha’s trip was a turning point for the automobile industry and the Benz company. While it would take decades for cars to become the standard method of transportation, people began to see them as the future. The Benz Patent Motorwagen went on sale in 1888 and sold better in France than in Germany, largely due to Karl Benz’s lack of business acumen.

In France, marketing was handled by Emile Roger, a Parisian engineer and bicycle manufacturer who had a flair for showmanship. Roger was a successful distributor of Benz engines and received sole agency rights to sell Benz cars in France. He showcased the Motorwagen at the 1889 World’s Fair and signed up the cars for racing events.

Despite some tension between Benz and Roger, the Benz company continued to grow and relocated to a larger production factory. By 1890, it had become the second-largest engine manufacturer in Germany. Karl focused on engineering, patenting several innovations, including double-pivot steering and planetary gear transmission.

In 1892, he designed the Benz Victoria, but it was the Benz Velo that became the world’s first large-scale production car, with over 1,200 sold by the end of its sales run in 1902. Benz & Co also invented the motorized bus, originally seating eight people.

However, Benz & Co faced competition from Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), led by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. After Daimler’s death in 1900, Maybach produced the Mercedes 35 HP, a vehicle resembling modern cars. To counter competition, Benz brought in French designers for new models, which angered him, leading to his resignation in 1903.

His sons Richard and Eugen founded a new company, Carl Benz Söhne, in 1906, focusing on new markets and finding success in England. Benz Sons lasted until 1923, with Karl liquidating his shares and retiring in 1912.

In the 1920s, the German economy plummeted, affecting all industries, including automotive. To survive, Benz & Co and DMG signed an “Agreement of Mutual Interest” in 1924, combining production and marketing efforts while retaining their brands. This led to a complete merger in 1926, forming Daimler-Benz, which tripled sales by 1927.

Karl Benz remained on the board of directors until his death on April 4, 1929, at the age of 84. Bertha lived in the same home until her passing on May 5, 1944. They both witnessed the industry they helped create thrive into something indispensable to humanity.