Karl Benz

Karl Benz was born in 1844 in Mühlburg, Baden (now Karlsruhe, Germany). Karl Benz's background is described as German. Growing up, the family was working class — his locomotive-driver father died when he was two; his mother kept him in school on very little. His wife's dowry saved the workshop; her unauthorized road trip proved his automobile worked.

Born

1844 · Mühlburg, Baden (now Karlsruhe, Germany)

Roots

German

Family

Working class

His locomotive-driver father died when he was two; his mother kept him in school on very little.

Education

Karlsruhe Polytechnic, entered at 15

Started with

A dowry

Bertha Ringer's dowry bought out his unreliable business partner before their marriage.

Affiliations & societies

None documented.

Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1. 1871 · age 27
   A failing iron workshop

   His first venture nearly collapses under a partner; Bertha's dowry buys the man out.

2. 1883 · age 39
   Benz & Cie

   A gas-engine company whose profits fund the car work.

3. 1886 · age 41
   Patent-Motorwagen

   Patent DRP 37435 — often called the automobile's birth certificate.

4. 1888 · age 43
   Bertha's drive

   Without telling him, his wife drives the car 106 km to her mother's with their sons, buying fuel at a pharmacy — the first long-distance car journey, and the publicity that saved it.

5. 1926 · age 81
   Daimler-Benz

   His company merges with Daimler; he dies three years later.