1. People
  2. Founders and Founding families
  3. Benz, Bertha

Bertha Benz

Bertha Benz
  • Surname
    Benz
  • First name
    Cäcilie Bertha
  • Date of birth
    03.05.1849
  • Date of death
    05.05.1944
Show thumbnails Show thumbnails Show list
Portrayal, 1888. Bertha Benz with her sons Eugen and Richard during their long-distance journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim with the Benz Patent Motor Car
B39394
Long-distance journey, 1888
Bertha Benz plays a key role in the development of the automobile. She fully supports her husband Carl Benz and, just like him, she strongly believes in the future of the automobile. During the economically critical first years she uses her dowry to safe the first company. In August 1888 and without further ado, Bertha Benz drives the Benz-patented motorcar from Mannheim to Pforzheim. She indeed manages to arrive there with her two sons Eugen and Richard. The framework conditions of this world’s first long-distance trip in an automobile – such as petrol supply from the chemist’s – are legendary and went down in the annals of automobile history. Thus, Bertha Benz and her sons play a key role in the triumph of petrol-driven automobiles.
U32190
Benz patent motor car
First contemporary photographic report about a journey with the Benz patent motor car model 3 (1886 - 1894). It was published in "Illustrierte Zeitung" (Leipzig) in September 1888.
31809
Benz patent-motorcar, model 3
Loading