Carl Benz

Image:Carl Benz 1869.png

Carl Benz was born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant on 25 November 1844 in Mühlburg, now a borough of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, which is part of modern Germany. His parents were Josephine Vaillant and a locomotive driver, Johann Georg Benz, whom she married a few months later. According to German law, the child acquired the name "Benz" by legal marriage of his parents.[http://www.geographic.hu/index.php?act=napi&rov=5&id=6102 1844. november 25-én Karlsruheban született Karl Friedrich Vaillant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011111822/http://www.geographic.hu/index.php?act=napi&rov=5&id=6102 |date=11 October 2008 }} Karlsruheban született Karl Friedrich Vaillant, a Benz autógyár alapítója. Mivel születésekor anyja még hajadon volt, ezért az ő neve után anyakönyvezték. Vaillant csak később vette fel apja nevét, a Benz-et.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930000422/http://www.personatti.com/card.data/Karl%20Benz_10080459.htm Realname:, Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant. Birthdate:, 25 November 1844. Death-date:, 4 April 1929. Birthplace:, Germany, Baden-württemberg, Karlsruhe ...]{{Cite web |last=Mannheimer Morgen |date=2007-05-07 |title=Carl Benz machte die Welt mobil |url=http://www.morgenweb.de/region/mannheim/daimler_benz/622204232.html |access-date=2024-05-03 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927024748/http://www.morgenweb.de/region/mannheim/daimler_benz/622204232.html |url-status=dead }} When he was two years old, his father died of pneumonia,http://www.zeno.org/nid/20007927983 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911200022/http://www.zeno.org/Naturwissenschaften/M/Benz,+Carl+Friedrich/Lebensfahrt+eines+deutschen+Erfinders/Vater+und+Mutter |date=11 September 2019 }} Benz, Carl Friedrich: Lebensfahrt eines deutschen Erfinders. Die Erfindung des Automobils, Erinnerungen eines Achtzigjährigen. Leipzig 1936, S. 13–17 and his name was changed to Karl Friedrich Benz in remembrance of his father.

Despite living in near poverty, his mother strove to give him a good education. Benz attended the local school in Karlsruhe and was a prodigious student. In 1853, at the age of nine, he started at the scientifically oriented Lyceum. Next he studied at Karlsruhe's polytechnical school under the instruction of Ferdinand Redtenbacher.{{Cite web |title=The History of Carl Benz – Carl Benz School of Engineering, Karlsruhe, Germany |url=https://technology-patent.com/cbs/57/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |language=en-US}}

Benz had originally focused his studies on locksmithing, but he eventually followed his father's steps toward locomotive engineering. On 30 September 1860, at age 15, he passed the entrance exam for mechanical engineering for the Karlsruhe polytechnical school, which he subsequently attended. Benz graduated on 9 July 1864, aged 19.{{Cite web |title=The History of Carl Benz – Carl Benz School of Engineering, Karlsruhe, Germany |url=https://technology-patent.com/cbs/57/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |language=en-US}}

Following his formal education, Benz had seven years of professional training in several companies, but did not fit well in any of them. The training started in Karlsruhe with two years of varied jobs in a mechanical engineering company.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

He then moved to Mannheim to work as a draftsman and designer in a scales factory. In 1868 he went to Pforzheim to work for the bridge building company Gebrüder Benckiser Eisenwerke und Maschinenfabrik. Finally,{{when|date=May 2024}} he went to Vienna for a short period to work at an iron construction company. {{Citation |title=Queensboro Bridge, Spanning East River & Blackwell's Island, New York County, NY |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ny0326.photos |access-date=2025-05-30 |language=english}}

In 1871, at the age of twenty-seven, Benz joined August Ritter, in launching the Iron Foundry and Mechanical Workshop in Mannheim, later renamed Factory for Machines for Sheet-metal Working.{{in lang|de}} [http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-1333261-49-1279445-1-0-0-0-0-1-36-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html Karl Benz's life as described on daimler.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629163949/http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-1333261-49-1279445-1-0-0-0-0-1-36-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html |date=29 June 2012 }}

The enterprise's first year went very badly. Ritter turned out to be unreliable, and the business's tools were impounded. The difficulty was overcome when Benz's fiancée, Bertha Ringer, bought out Ritter's share in the company, using her dowry.[http://www.mbusa.com/heritage/karl-benz.do Mercedes-Benz, Home of Mercedes-Benz Luxury Automobiles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515210836/http://www.mbusa.com/heritage/karl-benz.do |date=15 May 2008 }} at www.mbusa.com

On 20 July 1872,{{Cite web|title=Bertha Benz – The Woman behind the Automotive Revolution|url=https://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/Bertha-Benz--The-Woman-behind-the-Automotive-Revolution.xhtml?oid=9361402|website=marsMediaSite|language=en|access-date=2020-05-13|archive-date=14 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814071255/https://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/Bertha-Benz--The-Woman-behind-the-Automotive-Revolution.xhtml?oid=9361402|url-status=live}} Benz and Bertha Ringer married. They had five children: Eugen (1873), Richard (1874), Clara (1877), Thilde (1882), and Ellen (1890).

Despite the business misfortunes, Benz led in the development of new engines in the early factory he and his wife owned. To get more revenue, in 1878 he began to work on new patents. First, he concentrated on creating a reliable petrol two-stroke engine. Benz finished his two-stroke engine on 31 December 1879, and was granted a patent for it on 28 June 1880.

While designing what would become the production standard for his two-stroke engine, Benz patented the speed regulation system, the ignition using sparks with battery, the spark plug, the carburetor, the clutch, the gear shift, and the water radiator.

Problems arose again when the banks at Mannheim demanded that the Benz's enterprise be incorporated due to the high production costs it maintained. They were forced to improvise an association with photographer Emil Bühler and his brother (a cheese merchant), to get additional bank support. The company became the joint-stock company Gasmotoren Fabrik Mannheim in 1882.

After all the necessary incorporation agreements, Benz was unhappy because he was left with merely five percent of the shares and a modest position as director. Worst of all, his ideas weren't considered when designing new products, so he withdrew from that corporation just one year later, in 1883.

{{Main|Benz Patent-Motorwagen}}

File:Benz Patent Motorwagen 1886 (Replica).jpg built in 1885]]

File:Benz Patent Motorwagen Engine.jpg

File:Karl Benz Führerschein.jpg

Benz's lifelong hobby brought him to a bicycle repair shop in Mannheim owned by Max Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm Eßlinger. In 1883, the three founded a new company producing industrial machines: Benz & Companie Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik, usually referred to as Benz & Cie. Quickly growing to twenty-five employees, it soon began to produce static gas engines as well.

The success of the company gave Benz the opportunity to indulge in his old passion of designing a horseless carriage. Based on his experience with, and fondness for, bicycles, he used similar technology when he created an automobile. It featured wire wheels (unlike carriages' wooden ones)G.N. Georgano Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) with a four-stroke engine of his own design between the rear wheels, with a very advanced coil ignitionG.N. Georgano and evaporative cooling rather than a radiator. Power was transmitted by means of two roller chains to the rear axle. Benz finished his creation in 1885 and named it "Benz Patent-Motorwagen".

The Motorwagen was patented on 29 January 1886 as DRP-37435: "automobile fueled by gas".[http://home.arcor.de/carsten.popp/DE_00037435_A.pdf DRP's patent No. 37435] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204045616/http://home.arcor.de/carsten.popp/DE_00037435_A.pdf |date=4 February 2012 }} (PDF, 561 kB, German) was filed 29 January 1886 and granted 2 November 1886, thus taking effect 29 January. The 1885 version was difficult to control, leading to a collision with a wall during a public demonstration. The first successful tests on public roads were carried out in the early summer of 1886. Benz first publicly drove the car on 3 July 1886 in Mannheim at a top speed of 16 km/h (10 mph). The next year Benz created the Motorwagen Model 2, which had several modifications, and in 1889, the definitive Model 3 with wooden wheels was introduced, showing at the Paris Expo the same year.

Benz began to sell the vehicle (advertising it as "Benz Patent-Motorwagen") in the late summer of 1888, making it the first commercially available automobile in history. The second customer of the Motorwagen was a Parisian bicycle manufacturer Emile Roger, who had already been building Benz engines under license from Benz for several years. Roger added the Benz automobiles (many built in France) to the line he carried in Paris and initially most were sold there.

The early 1888 version of the Motorwagen had only two gears and could not climb hills unaided. This limitation was rectified after Bertha Benz drove one of the vehicles a great distance and suggested to her husband the addition of a third gear for climbing hills. In the course of this trip she also invented brake pads.

File:Berthabenzmemorialrouteschild.jpg, commemorating the world's first long-distance journey with a Benz Patent-Motorwagen Number 3 in 1888]]

Image:Motorwagen Serienversion.jpg for the first long-distance journey by automobile (more than 106 km or sixty miles)]]

The world's first long distance automobile trip was undertaken by Bertha Benz using a Model 3. On the morning of 5 August 1888 Bertha – supposedly without the knowledge of her husband – took the vehicle on a {{convert|104|km|mi|abbr=on}} trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim to visit her mother, taking her sons Eugen and Richard with her. In addition to having to locate pharmacies along the way to refuel, she repaired various technical and mechanical problems. One of these included the invention of brake lining; after some longer downhill slopes she ordered a shoemaker to nail leather onto the brake blocks. Bertha Benz and sons finally arrived at nightfall, announcing the achievement to Karl by telegram. It had been her intention to demonstrate the feasibility of using the Benz Motorwagen for travel and to generate publicity in the manner now referred to as live marketing. Today, the event is celebrated every two years in Germany with an antique automobile rally.

In 2008, the Bertha Benz Memorial Route{{Cite web |url=http://www.bertha-benz.de/indexen.php?inhalt=home |title=Bertha Benz Memorial Route |access-date=29 March 2010 |archive-date=13 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013073522/http://www.bertha-benz.de/indexen.php?inhalt=home |url-status=live }} was officially approved as a route of the industrial heritage of mankind, because it follows Bertha Benz's tracks of the world's first long-distance journey by automobile in 1888. The public can now follow the {{cvt|194|km}} of signposted route from Mannheim via Heidelberg to Pforzheim (Black Forest) and back. The return trip – which didn't go through Heidelberg – was along a different, slightly shorter route, as shown on the maps of the Bertha Benz Memorial Route.

Benz's Model 3 made its wide-scale debut to the world in the 1889 World's Fair in Paris; about twenty-five Motorwagens were built between 1886 and 1893.

Image:Karl Benz - early automobile logo w cog wheel - 83d40m.JPG

Image:Benz Velo 1894.jpg

Image:Bertha Benz with her husband Carl Benz in a Benz-Viktoria, model 1894.jpg

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Image: Benz racing car two-cylinder 14 hp (1899).jpg

The great demand for static internal combustion engines forced Benz to enlarge the factory in Mannheim, and in 1886 a new building located on Waldhofstrasse (operating until 1908) was added. Benz & Cie. had grown in the interim from 50 employees in 1889 to 430 in 1899.

During the last years of the nineteenth century, Benz was the largest automobile company in the world with 572 units produced in 1899.

Because of its size, in 1899, Benz & Cie. became a joint-stock company with the arrival of Friedrich von Fischer and Julius Ganß, who came aboard as members of the Board of Management. Ganß worked in the commercialization department, which is somewhat similar to marketing in contemporary corporations.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mercedes-benz.co.ke/content/kenya/mpc/mpc_kenya_website/en/home_mpc/passengercars/home/world/mythos/how_it_began.html |title=How it all began |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819021657/http://www.mercedes-benz.co.ke/content/kenya/mpc/mpc_kenya_website/en/home_mpc/passengercars/home/world/mythos/how_it_began.html |archive-date=19 August 2016}}

The new directors recommended that Benz should create a less expensive automobile suitable for mass production. From 1893 to 1900 Benz sold the four wheel, two seat Victoria,{{Cite web|title=Benz Victoria and Vis-à-Vis, 1893–1900|url=https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Benz-Victoria-and-Vis--Vis-1893---1900.xhtml?oid=4393|access-date=2020-10-07|website=marsClassic|language=en|archive-date=30 March 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170330115915/https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Benz-Victoria-and-Vis--Vis-1893---1900.xhtml?oid=4393|url-status=live}} a two-passenger automobile with a {{convert|2.2|kW|hp|abbr=on}} engine, which could reach the top speed of {{convert|18|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} and had a pivotal front axle operated by a roller-chained tiller for steering. The model was successful with 85 units sold in 1893, and was produced in a four-seated version with face-to-face seat benches called the "Vis-à-Vis".

From 1894 to 1902, Benz produced over 1,200 of what some consider the first mass-produced car, the Velocipede, later known as the Benz Velo.{{cite web|last1=Danielson|first1=C.|title=The World's First Production Car, The Benz Patent Motor Car Velocipede Of 1894|url=http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Sep08/12_001387_eMercedesBenz_Feature_The_Worlds_First_Production_Car_The_Benz_Patent_Motor_Car_Velocipede_Of_1894.html|website=eMercedesBenz|access-date=22 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324020255/http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Sep08/12_001387_eMercedesBenz_Feature_The_Worlds_First_Production_Car_The_Benz_Patent_Motor_Car_Velocipede_Of_1894.html|archive-date=24 March 2015}} The early Velo had a 1L {{convert|1.5|hp|PS hp kW|adj=on|order=out}} engine, and later a {{convert|3|hp|PS hp kW|0|adj=on|order=out}} engine. giving a top speed of {{convert|12|mph|km/h|abbr=on|order=flip}}.

The Velo participated in the world's first automobile race, the 1894 Paris to Rouen, where Émile Roger finished 14th, after covering the {{convert|126|km|mi|abbr=on}} in 10 hours 01-minute at an average speed of {{convert|12.7|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}.

In 1895, Benz designed the first truck with an internal combustion engine in history. Benz also built the first motor buses in history in 1895, for the Netphener bus company.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/lifestyle/mercedes-benz-magazines/classic-magazine/the-first-motorized-bus-dating-back-to-1895-was-a-benz/ |title=The first motorized bus, dating back to 1895, was a Benz. |date=16 June 2015 |website=mercedes-benz.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210181007/https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/lifestyle/mercedes-benz-magazines/classic-magazine/the-first-motorized-bus-dating-back-to-1895-was-a-benz/ |archive-date=10 February 2018 |access-date=10 February 2018}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/museum/exponate-benz-omnibus/ |title=Benz motorized bus. |date=26 January 2015 |website=mercedes-benz.com |access-date=10 February 2018 |archive-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180615/https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/museum/exponate-benz-omnibus/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/ko/en/9361266 |title=From landau to low-frame bus: passenger transportation from 1885 to 1926 |website=media.daimler.com |access-date=10 February 2018}}

Image:zzz-Vik-Lond.jpg

In 1896, Benz was granted a patent for his design of the first flat engine. It had horizontally opposed pistons, a design in which the corresponding pistons reach top dead centre simultaneously, thus balancing each other with respect to momentum. Many flat engines, particularly those with four or fewer cylinders, are arranged as "boxer engines", boxermotor in German, and also are known as "horizontally opposed engines". This design is still used by Porsche, Subaru, and some high performance engines used in racing cars. In motorcycles, the most famous boxer engine is found in BMW Motorrad,{{Cite web |url=http://www.designboom.com/technology/90-years-of-bmw-motorrad-an-evolution-of-the-motorcycle/ |title=90 years of BMW motorrad: an evolution of the motorcycle |date=29 May 2013 |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817115750/http://www.designboom.com/technology/90-years-of-bmw-motorrad-an-evolution-of-the-motorcycle/ |url-status=live }} though the boxer engine design was used in many other models, including Victoria, Harley-Davidson XA, Zündapp, Wooler, Douglas Dragonfly, Ratier, Universal, IMZ-Ural, Dnepr, Gnome et Rhône, Chang Jiang, Marusho, and the Honda Gold Wing.{{Cite web |url=https://carlbenz.idschools.kit.edu/history_of_carl_benz.php |title=KIT – Carl Benz School of Engineering – History of Carl Benz |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093827/http://carlbenz.idschools.kit.edu/history_of_carl_benz.php |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=4 July 2016}}

Although Gottlieb Daimler died in March 1900—and there is no evidence{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} that Benz and Daimler knew each other nor that they knew about each other's early achievements—eventually, competition with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) in Stuttgart began to challenge the leadership of Benz & Cie. In October 1900, the main designer of DMG, Wilhelm Maybach, built the engine that would later be used in the Mercedes-35hp of 1902. The engine was built to the specifications of Emil Jellinek under a contract for him to purchase thirty-six vehicles with the engine, and for him to become a dealer of the special series. Jellinek stipulated the new engine be named Daimler-Mercedes (for his daughter). Maybach would quit DMG in 1907, but he designed the model and all of the important changes. After testing, the first was delivered to Jellinek on 22 December 1900. Jellinek continued to make suggestions for changes to the model and obtained good results racing the automobile in the next few years, encouraging DMG to engage in commercial production of automobiles, which they did in 1902.

Benz countered with Parsifal, introduced in 1903 with a vertical twin engine that achieved a top speed of {{convert|60|km/h|abbr=on}}. Then, without consulting Benz, the other directors hired some French designers.{{Cite web |url=https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsPublic/en/instance/ko/810-hp---35-hp-Benz-Parsifal-and-18-hp---3540-hp-Benz-1902--.xhtml?oid=4418 |title=8/10 hp – 35 hp Benz Parsifal and 18 hp – 35/40 hp Benz, 1902–1908 – marsPublic |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-date=15 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815220159/https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsPublic/en/instance/ko/810-hp---35-hp-Benz-Parsifal-and-18-hp---3540-hp-Benz-1902--.xhtml?oid=4418 |url-status=live }}

France was a country with an extensive automobile industry based on Maybach's creations. Because of this action, after difficult discussions, Benz announced his retirement from design management on 24 January 1903, although he remained as director on the Board of Management through its merger with DMG in 1926 and, remained on the board of the new Daimler-Benz corporation until his death in 1929.

Benz's sons Eugen and Richard left Benz & Cie. in 1903, but Richard returned to the company in 1904 as the designer of passenger vehicles.

That year, sales of Benz & Cie. reached 3,480 automobiles, and the company remained the leading manufacturer of automobiles.

Along with continuing as a director of Benz & Cie., Benz founded another company, C. Benz Söhne, (with his son Eugen and closely held within the family), a privately held company for manufacturing automobiles. The brand name used the first initial of Benz's first name, "Carl".{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

{{Main|Blitzen Benz}}

Image:Blitzen Benz racing car.jpg]]

In 1909, the Blitzen Benz was built in Mannheim by Benz & Cie. The bird-beaked vehicle had a 21.5-liter (1312ci), {{convert|150|kW|hp|abbr=on}} engine, and on 9 November 1909 in the hands of Victor Hémery of France,Northey, Tom, "Land Speed Record", in The World of Automobiles (London: Orbis Publishing, 1974), Volume 10, p. 1163. the land speed racer at Brooklands, set a record of {{cvt|226.91|km/h}}, said to be "faster than any plane, train, or automobile" at the time, a record that was not exceeded for ten years by any other vehicle. It was transported to several countries, including the United States, to establish multiple records of this achievement.

Image:Benz Logo Mannheim.png

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Carl Benz, Bertha Benz, and their son, Eugen, moved {{convert|10|km}} east of Mannheim to live in nearby Ladenburg, and solely with their own capital, founded the private company, C. Benz Sons (German: Benz Söhne) in 1906, producing automobiles and gas engines. The latter type was replaced by petrol engines because of lack of demand.{{Cite web |url=http://www.automuseum-dr-carl-benz.de/?section=historie&infopart=drcarlbenz |title=Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-date=10 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410111543/http://www.automuseum-dr-carl-benz.de/?section=historie&infopart=drcarlbenz |url-status=live }}

Image:C-Benz-Soehne-Logo.png

This company never issued stocks publicly, building its own line of automobiles independently from Benz & Cie., which was located in Mannheim. The Benz Sons automobiles were of good quality and became popular in London as taxis.

In 1912, Benz liquidated all of his shares in Benz Sons and left the family-held company in Ladenburg to Eugen and Richard, but he remained as a director of Benz & Cie.

During a birthday celebration for him in his home town of Karlsruhe on 25 November 1914, the seventy-year-old Benz was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the Karlsruhe University, thereby becoming—Dr. Ing. h. c.  Benz.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/community/dr-carl-benz-car-museum/ |title=Dr. Carl Benz Car Museum. |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-date=3 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703202300/https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/community/dr-carl-benz-car-museum/ |url-status=dead }}

Almost from the very beginning of the production of automobiles, participation in sports car racing became a major method to gain publicity for manufacturers. At first, the production models were raced and the Benz Velo participated in the first automobile race: Paris to Rouen 1894. Later, investment in developing racecars for motorsports produced returns through sales generated by the association of the name of the automobile with the winners. Unique race vehicles were built at the time such as the first mid-engine and aerodynamically designed, Tropfenwagen, a "teardrop" body introduced at the 1923 European Grand Prix at Monza.

In the last production year of the Benz Sons company, 1923, three hundred and fifty units were built. During the following year, 1924, Benz built two additional 8/25 hp units of the automobile manufactured by this company, tailored for his personal use, which he never sold; they are still preserved.

Image:Ladenburg Wohnhaus Carl Benz 20100920.jpg, in Baden-Württemberg]]

The German economic crisis worsened. In 1923 Benz & Cie. produced only 1,382 units in Mannheim, and DMG made only 1,020 in Stuttgart. The average cost of an automobile was 25 million marks because of rapid inflation. Negotiations between the two companies resumed and in 1924 they signed an "Agreement of Mutual Interest" valid until the year 2000. Both enterprises standardized design, production, purchasing, sales, and advertising—marketing their automobile models jointly—although keeping their respective brands.{{Cite web |url=http://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/Merger-in-the-Year-1926-DMG-and-Benz--Cie-merge-to-become-Da.xhtml?oid=12358477 |title=Merger in the Year 1926: DMG and Benz & Cie. merge to become Daimler-Benz AG: Together for the best for 90 years – marsMediaSite |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818135814/http://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/Merger-in-the-Year-1926-DMG-and-Benz--Cie-merge-to-become-Da.xhtml?oid=12358477 |url-status=live }}

On 28 June 1926, Benz & Cie. and DMG finally merged as the Daimler-Benz company, baptizing all of its automobiles as Mercedes-Benz, honoring the most important model of the DMG automobiles, the 1902 Mercedes 35 hp, along with the Benz name. The name of Mercedes 35 hp had been chosen for ten-year-old Mercédès Jellinek, the daughter of Emil Jellinek who had set the specifications for the new model. Between 1900 and 1909 he was a member of DMG's board of management, however had resigned long before the merger.

Benz was a member of the new Daimler-Benz board of management for the remainder of his life. A new logo was created in 1926, consisting of a three pointed star (representing Daimler's motto: "engines for land, air, and water") surrounded by traditional laurels from the Benz logo, and the brand of all of its automobiles was labeled Mercedes-Benz. Model names would follow the brand name in the same convention as today.

The next year, 1927, the number of units sold tripled to 7,918 and the diesel line was launched for truck production. In 1928, the Mercedes-Benz SSK was presented.

On 4 April 1929, Benz died at his home in Ladenburg at the age of 84 from a bronchial inflammation. Until her death on 5 May 1944, Bertha Benz continued to reside in their last home. Members of the family resided in the home for thirty more years. The Benz home has now been designated as historic and is used as a scientific meeting facility for a nonprofit foundation, the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation.

Carl-Benz-Memorial (1).jpg|The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)

Carl-Benz-Memorial (2).jpg|The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)

Carl-Benz-Memorial (3).jpg|The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)

Carl-Benz-Memorial (4).jpg|The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)

Carl-Benz-Memorial (5).jpg|The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)

Carl-Benz-Denkmal (1) 2015.jpg|The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim, in the evening (2015)

[[Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz|thumb]]

The {{Ill|Carl-Benz-Gymnasium Ladenburg|de}} in Ladenburg, where he lived until his death, is named in his honor, as is the Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz, also located in Ladenburg.

In 1984, Benz was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |url=https://media.daimler.com/Projects/c2c/channel/documents/1675571_EAHoF_e.rtf |title=European Automotive Hall of Fame |publisher=Mercedes-Benz |access-date=9 March 2016 |archive-date=10 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310021601/https://media.daimler.com/Projects/c2c/channel/documents/1675571_EAHoF_e.rtf |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/inductee/karl-benz/7/ |title=Karl Benz |year=1984 |website=Hall of Fame Inductees |publisher=Automotive Hall of Fame |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308034830/http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/inductee/karl-benz/7/ |archive-date=8 March 2016 |access-date=4 March 2016}} and the European Automotive Hall of Fame.

In 2011, a dramatized television film about the life of Carl and Bertha Benz was made named {{ill|Carl & Bertha|de}}, which premiered on 11 May{{in lang|de}} [http://www.swr.de/carlundbertha Genialer Tüftler und bedingungslose Unterstützerin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128095450/http://www.swr.de/carlundbertha |date=28 November 2011 }}, SWR and was aired by Das Erste on 23 May.{{in lang|de}} [http://programm.daserste.de/pages/programm/detail.aspx?id=30C8FA62CEBE516F83D1AE6F7AE2B2C0 ARD-Themenwoche "Der mobile Mensch" Carl & Bertha] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911200025/http://programm.daserste.de/pages/programm/detail.aspx?id=30C8FA62CEBE516F83D1AE6F7AE2B2C0 |date=11 September 2019 }} A trailer of the film{{in lang|de}} {{YouTube|gS9_XyEwyI4|Carl & Bertha – Eine Liebe für das Automobil – SWR – DAS ERSTE}} and a "making of" special were released on YouTube.{{YouTube|yHIFE4vOeEo|Making of 'Carl & Bertha' (Film)}}

• Benz (unit)
• List of German inventors and discoverers
• History of the internal combustion engine
• Siegfried Marcus

Specific

{{Reflist}}

General

• {{

Cite book

| first=Carl

| isbn=3-7338-0302-7

| language=de

| last=Benz

| location=München

| publisher=Koehler und Amelang

| title=Lebensfahrt eines deutschen Erfinders : meine Erinnerungen / Karl Benz

| trans-title=The life of a German inventor: my memories / Karl Benz

| year=2001

}} (autobiography)

• {{Cite book

| edition=1

| first=Carl Friedrich

| language=de

| last=Benz

| location=Leipzig

| publisher=Koehler & Amelang

| title=Lebensfahrt eines deutschen erfinders; erinnerungen eines achtzigjahrigen

| trans-title=The life of a German inventor; memories of an octogenarian

| url=http://catnyp.nypl.org/record=b3903459

| year=c. 1925

| access-date=15 May 2020

| archive-date=6 July 2013

| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130706043919/http://catnyp.nypl.org/record=b3903459

| url-status=dead

}}

• {{

Cite book

| first=Angela

| isbn=9783455501469

| language=de

| last=Elis

| oclc=768728847

| publication-place=Hamburg

| publisher=Hoffmann und Campe

| title=Mein Traum ist länger als die Nacht : wie Bertha Benz ihren Mann zu Weltruhm fuhr

| trans-title=My dream is longer than the night : how Bertha Benz drove her husband to worldwide fame

| year=2010

}}

• {{

Cite book

| first1=Peter

| first2=Eberhard

| first3=D.

| first4=E.

| first5=I.

| first6=H.

| isbn=9783322822185

| language=de

| last1=Kirchberg

| last2=Wächtler

| last3=Goetz

| last4=Wächtler

| last5=Winter

| last6=Wußing

| oclc=913809190

| publication-place=Wiesbaden

| publisher=Vieweg+Teubner Verlag : Imprint : Vieweg+Teubner Verlag

| title=Carl Benz Gottlieb Daimler Wilhelm Maybach

| year=1981

}}

• {{

Cite book

| author5=Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft

| author6=Mercedes-Benz-Museum

| first1=Karl

| first2=Max-Gerrit von

| first3=Harry

| first4=Günter

| isbn=978-3-613-01643-9

| language=de

| last1=Benz

| last2=Pein

| last3=Niemann

| last4=Engelen

| oclc=37513189

| publication-place=Stuttgart

| publisher=Motorbuch Verlag

| title=Benz & Cie. : zum 150. Geburtstag von Karl Benz

| trans-title=Benz & Cie. : on the 150th birthday of Karl Benz

| year=1994

}}

• {{

Cite book

| edition=2

| first=Hans Christoph

| isbn=9783184008512

| language=de

| last=Seherr-Thoss

| location=Düsseldorf

| oclc=35484713

| publisher=VDI-Verlag

| title=Zwei Männer – ein Stern : Gottlieb Daimler und Karl Benz in Bildern, Daten und Dokumenten

| trans-title=Two men – one star: Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz in pictures, data and documents

| year=1988

}}

• {{

Cite book

| first=Winfried A.

| isbn=9783936468298

| language=de

| last=Seidel

| location=Weinheim

| oclc=61766483

| publisher=Diesbach

| title=Carl Benz : eine badische Geschichte; die Vision vom "pferdelosen Wagen" verändert die Welt

| trans-title=Carl Benz : a Baden history; the vision of the "horseless car" changes the world

| year=2005

}} (biography)

• {{

Cite book

| edition=2

| first=Paul

| language=de

| last=Siebertz

| location=Stuttgart

| oclc=2278046

| publisher=Reclam

| title=Karl Benz; ein Pionier der motorisierung

| trans-title=Karl Benz; a pioneer of motorization

| year=1950

}}

• {{Cite book

| chapter=Benz, Karl

| first1=Ian

| first2=Lance

| isbn=9781134650194

| last1=McNeil

| last2=Day

| oclc=33443714

| publication-place=London and New York

| publisher=Routledge

| title=Biographical dictionary of the history of technology

| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmoTeX3aGl4C&pg=PA102

| year=1996

| access-date=17 October 2023

| archive-date=15 November 2023

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115084046/https://books.google.com/books?id=FmoTeX3aGl4C&pg=PA102

| url-status=live

}}

{{Commons category}}

• Brief biographies of [https://web.archive.org/web/20120917170726/http://www.mercedes-benz-classic.com/content/classic/mpc/mpc_classic_website/en/mpc_home/mbc/home/knowledge/overview/karl_benz.html Karl Benz] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120305214857/http://www.mercedes-benz-classic.com/content/classic/mpc/mpc_classic_website/en/mpc_home/mbc/home/knowledge/overview/bertha_benz.html Bertha Benz], with portraits, an extensive archive, and detailed histories presented at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20100401175218/http://www.mercedes-benz.com:80/content/mbcom/international/international_website/en/com/Brandworld_Museum.html Mercedes-Benz Museum]
• Mercedes-Benz [https://web.archive.org/web/20070328125337/http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0-5-7189-1-56989-1-0-0-0-0-0-8-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html corporate archives], [https://web.archive.org/web/20081202104537/http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-7189-1-10828-1-0-0-56989-0-0-135-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html company archives], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070622225423/http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0-5-7168-1-9837-1-0-0-0-0-0-8-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html history], [https://web.archive.org/web/20090118200112/http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0-5-7189-1-10829-1-0-0-56989-0-0-135-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html media management archives], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926231512/http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0-5-7189-1-10834-1-0-0-56989-0-0-135-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html publications]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090325224539/http://www.automuseum-ladenburg.de/cms/images/ehrendoktor_smal.jpg Honorary doctorate] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20070630110151/http://www.automuseum-ladenburg.de/cms/images/staatsmedallie_smal.jpg Baden State medal in gold], both awarded to Karl Benz in his lifetime
• [http://www.automuseum-ladenburg.de/ Das Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz in der alten Benz Fabrik] {{in lang|de}} is the Dr. Carl Benz Auto Museum created by a private group in 1996 [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.mercedes-Benz.de/content/germany/mpc/mpc_germany_website/de/home_mpc/passenger_cars/home/passenger_cars_world/heritage/museum/historical_places/car_museum_karl_Benz.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=8&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DAutomuseum%2BDr.%2BCarl%2BBenz%2B%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DNin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423013244/https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.mercedes-Benz.de/content/germany/mpc/mpc_germany_website/de/home_mpc/passenger_cars/home/passenger_cars_world/heritage/museum/historical_places/car_museum_karl_Benz.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=8&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DAutomuseum%2BDr.%2BCarl%2BBenz%2B%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DNin |date=23 April 2017 }} in a former Benz factory for an ancillary business founded with his sons in Ladenburg, which was separate from his major companies. The company opened in 1906 and closed in 1923, the site has a description of this museum and [https://web.archive.org/web/20090325224537/http://www.automuseum-ladenburg.de/cms/templates/gruen/random/3.jpg contemporary photographs], showing "C. Benz SÖHNE KG" painted on the building, which contains historical photographs, some restored automobiles, and a [https://web.archive.org/web/20080508221216/http://www.automuseum-ladenburg.de/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=19 chronology] of the life of Karl Benz.
• [http://www.3wheelers.com/Benz.html Karl Benz on 3-wheelers.com] ({{

Webarchive

| date=5 February 2020

| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205040023/http://www.3wheelers.com/benz.html

}})

• [http://www.bertha-Benz.de/ Bertha Benz Memorial Route] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203051303/http://www.bertha-benz.de/ |date=3 February 2011 }}
• [https://engines.egr.uh.edu/episode/2402 Bertha Benz's Ride] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022153102/https://engines.egr.uh.edu/episode/2402 |date=22 October 2023 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070630110152/http://www.kurpfalz-tourist.de/web-data/Bilder/friedhof_1.jpg The Karl Benz family grave site in Ladenburg]: the urn contains the ashes of their son, Richard Benz, and the inscription on the gravestone reads "Dr. Ing. h. c. Karl Benz" ({{

Webarchive

| date=27 October 2009

| title=Mercedes Benz, A European Travel Guide

| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027082313/http://geocities.com/MotorCity/Lane/4444/

}})

• The [https://web.archive.org/web/20080427031307/http://www.daimler-benz-stiftung.de/home/events/en/start.html Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation] founded in 1986 at the last residence of Bertha and Karl Benz in Ladenburg
• {{20th Century Press Archives | FID=pe/001490}}
• {{YouTube|bQ4vB55z0RE|Germany’s Oldest Street-Legal Car {{!}} 1894 Benz Victoria {{!}} German Cars}}, video of a Benz Victoria being driven on the streets of Germany in the 21st century
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027082313/http://geocities.com/MotorCity/Lane/4444/ Mercedes Benz, A European Travel Guide]

{{Benz}}

{{Mercedes-Benz Group}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benz, Carl}}

Category:1844 births

Category:1929 deaths

Category:19th-century German inventors

Category:German founders of automobile manufacturers

Category:German industrialists

Category:German mechanical engineers

Category:People associated with the internal combustion engine

Category:Engineers from Karlsruhe

Category:People from the Grand Duchy of Baden

Category:Karlsruhe Institute of Technology alumni

Category:Businesspeople from Karlsruhe