Did you know the story?
This video perfectly recounts the moment when Bertha Benz dared to take the plunge and changed our world. She lived in Germany at the end of the 19th century, at which time the means of transport used was the horse. Her husband, Karl Benz, a brilliant engineer, had created the first horseless carriage. And contrary to what you could imagine, the idea of her had met with opposition from different sectors.
The Kaiser of Germany was a great lover of horses, and he refused to allow them to be replaced by a motor. The Church also opposed this change as the work of the devil. But Mrs. Benz decided to take action by starring in the first car trip in history, leaving on August 12, 1888 from Mannheim to her sister’s house in Pforzheim, 106 km away.
The journey with the motorized artifact ran along unpaved roads, and it was not easy. It was a car without a steering wheel and a single gear. When the 4.5 liters stored in the carburettor ran out they had to “refuel”, doing so at a pharmacy in Wiesloch. There they bought ligroin, thus inventing the first service station.
