About 10 km from here the first motorcar was invented, built and tried out. Carl Benz had his workshop in Mannheim and lived in Ladenburg. He developed the first practical car but was apparently loath to try it out on more than a few hundred meters when one fine summer’s day in 1888 his wife unbeknown to her husband loaded up their two barely teenage boys and drove 105 km to her parent’s house. On the way she managed to transform a pharmacy into the first petrol station and even repaired a blocked valve with her hat pin.
Today the Carl Benz Museum in Ladenburg houses many wonderful old and oldest models of Mercedes Benz cars.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Inventions
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That’s a wonderful bit of history. I never heard that before. Thanks for sharing that story. Great photos, too.
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Thanks. There is a Bertha Benz Memorial route that traces this first road trip with a motorcar ever, it’s approximately 105 km from Mannheim to Pforzheim. I plan to ride this route by bicycle this summer, with my sister, possibly in two installments.
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That sounds like fun!
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I’ve a hunch that you’ll be quicker on the bike. Is it known how long her journey took?
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A full day, I think. Early morning until pretty late. There are more accurate accounts, it’s just what I remember.
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What a wonderful story.
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😊
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Thank you, Mrs Benz!
For putting the world into motion 🙂
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Have hatpin, will travel!
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“Repaired a blocked valve with her hat pin” made me smile.
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That’s the story. Who knows if it’s true?
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Wow, beautiful cars and fascinating history. What a very impressive couple!
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Yes, she must have been formidable. And she still looked it 50 years later (there is a photo of her in wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Benz . For the photo of her in 1944, scroll down.).
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Wow, what an impressive woman, especially given the fact that there were many things she was not permitted to do. But she did them anyway! 🙂
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👍🏽
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Interesting story.
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