Benz & Cie.

Early Life

Carl Benz was born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant on 25 November 1844 in Mühlburg, now a borough of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was the illegitimate child of Josephine Vaillant and locomotive driver Johann Georg Benz, whom she married a few months after his birth. Following his parents’ marriage, the child acquired the name "Benz" according to German law. His father died of pneumonia when Benz was two years old, and his name was changed to Karl Friedrich Benz in remembrance. Despite living in near poverty, his mother ensured he received a good education. He attended the local school in Karlsruhe and excelled as a student, beginning at the Lyceum at age nine. He then studied at Karlsruhe's polytechnical school under Ferdinand Redtenbacher, initially focusing on locksmithing before following in his father’s footsteps toward locomotive engineering. He passed the entrance exam for mechanical engineering at the Karlsruhe polytechnical school at age fifteen, graduating on 9 July 1864, aged nineteen.

Benz's First Factory and Early Inventions (1871–1882)

In 1871, Benz joined August Ritter in launching the Iron Foundry and Mechanical Workshop in Mannheim, later renamed Factory for Machines for Sheet-metal Working. The first year was difficult, as Ritter proved unreliable and the business’s tools were impounded. The situation was resolved when Benz’s fiancée, Bertha Ringer, used her dowry to buy out Ritter’s share. On 20 July 1872, Benz married Bertha Ringer, and they had five children: Eugen (1873), Richard (1874), Clara (1877), Thilde (1882), and Ellen (1890). Despite these early business misfortunes, Benz continued developing new engines. In 1878, he began working on new patents, concentrating on creating a reliable petrol two-stroke engine, which he completed on 31 December 1879, receiving a patent on 28 June 1880. While designing this engine, Benz patented the speed regulation system, spark ignition using batteries, the spark plug, the carburetor, the clutch, the gear shift, and the water radiator.

Benz's Gasmotoren-Fabrik Mannheim (1882–1883)

The high production costs of the enterprise forced Benz & Cie. to incorporate as a joint-stock company in 1882, requiring them to seek support from photographer Emil Bühler and his brother, a cheese merchant. Benz was unhappy with the resulting arrangement, as he held only five percent of the shares and had limited influence over design, and withdrew from the corporation in 1883.

Benz and Cie. and the Benz Patent-Motorwagen

Benz joined Max Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm Eßlinger in 1883 to found a new company producing industrial machines: Benz & Companie Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik, usually referred to as Benz & Cie. The company quickly grew to twenty-five employees and began producing static gas engines. This success allowed Benz to pursue his passion for designing a horseless carriage, incorporating technology similar to bicycles. The resulting Benz Patent-Motorwagen, completed in 1885, featured wire wheels and a four-stroke engine with advanced coil ignition and evaporative cooling. Power was transmitted by two roller chains to the rear axle. He patented the Motorwagen on 29 January 1886. The 1885 version proved difficult to control, colliding with a wall during a public demonstration. Successful public road tests began in early summer 1886, and Benz first publicly drove the car on 3 July 1886 in Mannheim, reaching a top speed of 16 km/h. The Motorwagen Model 2 followed in 1887, and the definitive Model 3 with wooden wheels was introduced in 1889, debuting at the Paris Expo that year. Benz began selling the vehicle in the late summer of 1888, making it the first commercially available automobile. The second customer was Parisian bicycle manufacturer Emile Roger, who had been building Benz engines under license for several years.

Bertha Benz's Long-Distance Drive

Bertha Benz undertook the world's first long-distance automobile trip on 5 August 1888, driving a Model 3 from Mannheim to Pforzheim to visit her mother, accompanied by her sons Eugen and Richard. The 104 km journey required her to locate pharmacies to refuel and to repair mechanical issues, including inventing brake lining by ordering a shoemaker to nail leather onto the brake blocks. She announced the achievement to Karl by telegram upon arrival. The trip demonstrated the feasibility of the Motorwagen for travel and generated publicity. Today, the event is commemorated every two years with an antique automobile rally, and the Bertha Benz Memorial Route, approved in 2008 as a route of industrial heritage, follows her tracks.

Benz and Cie. Expansion

The demand for static internal combustion engines led to the expansion of the Mannheim factory in 1886. By 1889, Benz & Cie. had grown to fifty employees, and by 1899, to 430. In 1899, the company produced 572 automobiles, becoming the largest automobile company in the world. Friedrich von Fischer and Julius Ganß joined the Board of Management, recommending the creation of a less expensive automobile for mass production. From 1893 to 1900, Benz sold the four-wheeled, two-seat Victoria, which could reach 18 km/h, and a four-seated version called the "Vis-à-Vis". From 1894 to 1902, Benz produced over 1,200 of the Benz Velo, considered the first mass-produced car, with a 1L 1.5-metric-horsepower engine, later upgraded to 3 metric horsepower, and a top speed of 19 km/h. The Velo participated in the 1894 Paris to Rouen race, where Émile Roger finished 14th.

Later Innovations and Daimler-Benz

In 1895, Benz designed the first truck with an internal combustion engine and built the first motor buses. He was granted a patent in 1896 for his design of a flat engine with horizontally opposed pistons. Although there is no evidence that Benz and Gottlieb Daimler knew each other, competition with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) intensified. In 1903, Benz announced his retirement from design management, though he remained on the Board of Management. In 1909, the Blitzen Benz, with a 21.5-liter, 200 hp engine, set a land speed record of 226.91 km/h at Brooklands. In 1926, Benz & Cie. and DMG merged to form Daimler-Benz, with all automobiles branded as Mercedes-Benz, honoring Emil Jellinek’s daughter, Mercédès Jellinek. Benz remained on the board of the new corporation until his death on 4 April 1929, at the age of 84, from bronchial inflammation.