Dr. Carl Benz
25th November, 1844 - 4th April, 1929



Karl Friedrich Benz, born the son of an engine driver in southwest German town Mühlburg on November 25th in 1844, is generally regarded as one of the inventors of the petrol-powered automobile. Benz, who later prefered to spell his name "Carl" instead of "Karl", attended both grammar and polytechnic school in Karlsruhe. After completing his studies, Benz worked first as an intern at a mechanical engineering company in Karlsruhe and then as a design engineer in Germany and Austria. At the age of 27, he founded his first company, supplying building materials. One year later he married Bertha Ringer with whom he had five children.



Alongside mechanical engineering, Benz soon discovered a new field of activity for himself, the development of engines, and as early as 1879 his factory presented an operational two-stroke engine. However, Benz left the company in 1883 because he had had too little scope for decisions on technical developments. In the fall of the same year, Karl Benz established a new company, the "Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik" (Rhenish Gas Engine Factory) in Mannheim and turned his attention to the design of a vehicle to be driven by an internal combustion engine.



He later heard of a man, Gottlieb Daimler, who was working on a four wheeled vehicle. Daimler inspired Benz, and he started working on his own /"Motorwagen" (motor car)/, with a four-stroke engine. Benz designed not only his engine, which was a single-cylinder, water-cooled, 958 cm³, 0.75 hp (560 W) unit, but the whole three wheeled vehicle, which was first driven through Mannheim in 1885 by his wife Bertha. It was also her who used the third version of this motorized three-wheeler for her famous long-distance journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 1888. With this courageous trip the energetic lady demonstrated the reliability of her husband’s motor car.



By 1890, Benz' company had developed into Germany’s second-largest engine factory. Innovations such as the double-pivot steering for automobiles (1893) and the horizontally-opposed piston engine (1896) consolidated the company’s position in the budding market for motor vehicles. In 1903, Karl Benz largely retired from the company out of protest against the employment of French engineers at the Mannheim plant. Karl Benz however remained a silent partner and served as a member of the supervisory board from 1904. He lived to see the merger of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie. in 1926 and remained a member of the supervisory board of the resulting Daimler-Benz AG until his death on April 4th, 1929 in Ladenburg.



Ladenburg is the place where now, 76 years later, a new museum dedicated to the life and work of Karl Benz will be opened to the public this Sunday, October 16th 2005. The "*Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz" will attract visitors with exclusive exhibits including more then 70 vehicles such as a car driven by Benz himself or a Formula-1 racer built by McLaren-Mercedes for David Coulthard in 1998. You might say that this car doesn't have too much to do with Karl Benz. But don't forget: if there hadn't been Karl Benz, Fernando Allonso would maybe have to compete with Kimi Räikkönen riding a bicycle.

The Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz" in 68526 Ladenburg, Germany, will be opened every Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 6 pm, the admission charge is 4,- Euro for adults and 2,50 Euro for children. The museum can also be found on the web (but in German only):
www.automuseum-dr-carl-benz.de


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