Bertha Benz Invents The Road Trip!

The Wholesome Show

Oct 06, 2022•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast

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Episode description

The car has been around for over a century, which makes it easy to forget that there were real-life humans behind its invention, not to mention a messy, complex journey of invention.

There are of course some well-meaning gentlemen that were involved in the invention of the automobile. But, possibly one of the most important figures was a woman by the name of Bertha Benz.

Bertha Benz’s husband was a locomotive engineer, Karl Benz. After getting into a good deal of debt in an iron manufacturing business, he was bailed out by his then fiance Bertha and, with her financial support, set about on his lifelong dream of creating the first true automobile.

There were many failed attempts by Karl before he had any success with a saleable automobile. These contraptions started out as three-wheeled vehicles that could reach 25kph (wild speeds in the day of the horse-drawn carriage). By the time they reached “Model III”, these machines were saleable and one could opt for some sick mods like a folding roof and additional vis-à-vis bench seats, the height of comfort.

However, back then, automobiles were not an easy sell. They were loud, shuddering, unreliable and, well, they didn’t involve horses. How dumb! As we know all too well, humans are, in general, terrible at embracing change. The general view back in the 1800s was that these “horseless carriages” were absolutely impractical.

However, this public had yet to encounter Bertha’s genius.

It’s helpful to point out here that Karl was no Elon Musk. By all accounts, he was meticulous, patient and conservative and prone to bouts of self-doubt and depression. Karl had some serious doubts about the practicality of his inventions and wondered if they’d ever be useful for anything more than quick jaunts around town.

But Bertha was made of different stuff and could see a little further than her husband’s limited view.

Not only did she have impressive intelligence, but she also disagreed with her husband and spoke out resolutely against dissenters of the automobile.

So in 1888, following the release of Model III and tired of her husband’s general attitude, Bertha took matters into her own hands. Bertha roped her two teenage sons into her plans and took a trip. This trip included the first roadside repairs, the first automatic marketing stunt, the first case of a wife borrowing her husband’s car without asking and the first violation of intercity highway laws in a motor vehicle. And it set the scene for the automotive revolution.

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Episode description

Bertha Benz Invents The Road Trip!

Episode description