Who invented the automobile? The answer depends a little bit on your definition of the word. The first practical gas-powered carriage was built by Karl Benz, who later merged his company with Daimler Motor Group to form Mercedez-Benz.
Karl Benz was a design visionary whose first fascinations were with locomotives and bicycles. His 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen was the first automobile to generate its own power, which was made with a two-stroke engine and transmitted to the rear axle by a pair of chains. He didn’t think it was ready for the road, and he was mostly right.
Bertha Benz, Karl’s wife and business partner, believed in her husband’s invention. She had been there since the beginning, and provided much of the funding for it along the way. If she hadn’t taken it out for a secret, illegal joyride, the Motorwagen may have never left the garage.
From Dowry to Down and Out
Bertha Benz at age 18. Image via Wikipedia
Cäcilie Bertha Ringer was born into a wealthy family in Pforzheim, Germany, in the spring of 1849. Her father was a carpenter and real estate investor who indulged his young daughter’s wide-eyed interest in the workings of locomotives and other technical things. Because of her father’s position, Bertha was able to get an education beyond the domestic arts, and enjoyed studying the natural sciences most of all.
Bertha grew into a beautiful and clever young woman, and by the age of twenty had many potential suitors from well-off families. But they all seemed to leave her cold. By chance, she and her mothe ..
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