Since Mercedes-Benz’s humble beginnings back in 1886 when the first engine-powered car was invented by Karl Benz, it has been consistently ranked as the world’s most valuable car brand, built up one of the most successful Formula 1 teams of all-time, and its cars are the most likely to elicit an obnoxious “POWWWAH” from renowned car nut Jeremy Clarkson.
But all of this mind-boggling success wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for the pioneering efforts of Karl’s wife and your new hero, Bertha Benz.
Just a little history made, no biggie.
When Karl built the first engine-powered car in 1886, he had little confidence that his invention would work. Without telling him or the authorities, Bertha decided to take the car out for a spin because she believed in the paradigm-changing possibilities of his work, not to mention the publicity would likely yield a good return on her investment in the project since she spent her dowry on it.
What unfolded next was a historical journey with big ramifications.
Bertha and her two teenage sons took off in the car in August 1888 with the intention of visiting her mother some 106km away, becoming the first ever person to undergo a long-distance cross-country automobile journey.
Bertha’s first words after setting off on her journey (unverified).
As expected from a prototype car that’s never been driven long distances before, Karl’s vehicle suffered several problems, all of which were solved by Bertha.
The list of problems encountered and fixed by Bertha honestly reads like something out of MacGyver:
- After running out of fuel, she dropped by the town chemist to buy the ingredient needed to power the car’s engine, inadvertently turning the chemist into the world’s first petrol station.
- She fixed a blocked fuel line with a hat pin and used her garter as insulation material.
- When the wooden brakes began to fail, she assisted the help of a cobbler to install leather brakes, thus creating the world’s first brake pads.
- She and her sons had to fill up the car with water every time they stopped as it overheated very quickly.
- The car struggled to go up hills so she got her sons to push. Okay, this one doesn’t really count but it is amusing so it makes the list.
In addition to overcoming various technical problems, Bertha had to endure a significant amount of skepticism from onlookers as no one has ever seen a car before in 1888 and seeing one being driven by a woman was akin to seeing a witch riding a unicorn.
All in all, it took Bertha and her sons about 12 hours to travel the 106km distance to her mother’s house, after which she then sent Karl a telegram about her successful little journey. She made another successful drive back three days later.
This is a undoubtedly a momentous moment in car history and Mercedes-Benz has decided to commemorate it be releasing two brilliant short films depicting Bertha’s journey, the hurdles she had to face, and the sexism she endured on her drive.
The first is on the Mercedes-Benz website and the second you can watch right here:
Not only did Bertha’s drive achieve the publicity she intended and thus paving the way for Mercedes-Benz’ future success, her technical ingenuity and feedback on the journey helped shape the way future cars were built and made engineers realise the importance of test drives.
Bertha’s strength and belief in the face of adversity was probably best described by Karl, who wrote in his memoirs, “Only one person stood by me during those times when I was heading towards the abyss. That was my wife. It was her courage that enabled me to find new hope.”
Welp, I just found my new hero.
So if there are any studios or streaming services out there looking to make a movie or TV series on a historical figure, Bertha Benz and her journey is more than deserving of your attention.