Bertha Benz

In history there have been many women who have also left an important legacy in many fields of daily life. One of them was Bertha Benz who was an energetic and strong-willed woman who played a subordinate role in the patriarchal society of the German Empire, but this was actually only appearance. She encouraged her often hesitant, stubborn, and sullen husband Carl Benz to keep going over and over again despite setbacks , and was by his side for nearly 60 years.

What did

Bertha Benz was one of the most important women in motorsports because, in addition to having been an unconditional support for her husband, Karl Benz , she was the one who helped him financially so that he could move forward with his dream and with his trip, he managed to the vehicle was perfected , showing that had the ability to travel long and motivating buyers short time later, began to want a vehicle of this type, increasing the sales considerably and doing that together create one of the major vehicle manufacturers to worldwide .

Bertha Benz Biography

Bertha was born on May 3, 1849 in Pforzheim , a city located in the Grand Duchy of Baden . His family was quite wealthy and he studied everything that a woman was allowed during that time in addition to mechanics at the side of his father . He met Karl Benz who fell in love and with who contracted marriage on 20 July 1872 , at that time, followed the rules of society becoming a housewife. Despite this, he was always aware of the family factory and of giving support and advice to Karl.

In the month of January of 1886 , Karl Benz had patented his tricycle however, the car had not left the factory so that people could not find him any profit . In addition, the Benzes had begun to have several financial problems that put their assets at risk. For this reason, Bertha decides to check how far she could go with the small motorized tricycle .

So she took a pencil and paper and left a note for her husband on the morning of August 5, 1888 : “Let’s go see Grandma,” she took her two children , put them in the car, and set out on a long journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim . It was a journey full of adventures and problems, but despite this, she and her children never gave up in the face of adversity. They pushed the car, sought help from villagers who looked at the vehicle with intrigue and took a series of important notes on aspects that he considered should be improved. They drank water out of the way, used a hair clip to highlight the carband covered a cable in bad condition with one of his rubber bands. Finally they managed to reach their destination and from there she wrote to her husband: “We arrived safely . “

Death

Bertha Benz died on May 5, 1944 when she was ninety-five years old.

Bertha Benz inventions

During his journey by car, the vehicle’s brakes failed and therefore he had to figure out how to keep going. As he progressed, he also took notes on things that should be improved, among them, he thought of some leather strips that could be used to improve and potential the operation of the brakes and with this, he created the idea of ​​what are currently known as brakes. brake pads .

Importance

The Importance of Bertha Benz was the goal of proving that her husband’s invention was self-contained and ready to go into production . She thus became the first woman to take a long-distance trip , popularizing her car and, most likely, saving Karl from professional and financial ruin .

The flood of publicity caused the couple to receive orders almost immediately. Thanks to her and after adding a gear system, her husband’s car became the largest automobile company in the world , with 400 employees and annual sales of almost 600 cars. Her 1888 significance and achievement has been commemorated in books and movies, and today motorists can hike the 120-mile Bertha Benz Memorial Road , which follows the path of her historic journey.

Phrases

Phrases that are remembered and mentioned by Bertha Benz are not recorded.

Acknowledgments

Today, it is recognized as an important part of the development of the equality of women . Bertha Benz was also considered a fundamental piece for the automotive revolution worldwide. It helped build an entire industry , forever changing the way transportation is conceived .

In 2008, the route known as Bertha Benz Memorial Route was officially approved as an Industrial Heritage of Humanity . This route was the one that Bertha took during her first car trip, a total of 194 kilometers that go from Mannheim to Pforzheim.

Presence in popular culture

In popular culture, Bertha Benz is still remembered as an entrepreneurial woman and as the first mechanical woman in history . A film was made in her honor called “ Bertha Benz: The Journey That Changed Everything ”, in which her historic long-distance journey is narrated for the first time in a car.

Curiosities about Bertha Benz

Some curiosities of Bertha Benz are mentioned below:

• She managed to drive the vehicle that had been created by her husband for a distance that reached 104 kilometers .
• She was the first woman and at the same time the person who managed to travel a long journey aboard a car that also had an internal combustion engine .
• Thanks to her car trip, she was able to help her husband solve many financial problems that he had.