Cäcilie Bertha Ringer was born on 3 May 1849 in Pforzheim, Baden, Deutscher Bund. She was the third of nine children of the Tischlermeister (Master Carpenter) Karl Friedrich Ringer (1801– ) and Auguste Friederike Kollmar (1823–1908). She was baptized on 20 May 1849 in the German Lutheran Parish of Pforzheim, Baden, Deutschland.[1] Herr Ringer had saved enough money as a carpenter and master builder to enable his children to get a good education. Bertha attended boarding school in Pforzheim for ten years.[2]
In the summer of 1870, she met the engineer Carl Benz. The two soon began making big plans, agreeing that they did not want to stay in Pforzheim, so Carl Benz set up a mechanical workshop with a partner in Mannheim. The wedding was to take place and Bertha would join him as soon as he could make a living there. When Bertha realized Carl and his partner differed in approach, she persuaded her father to pay her dowry before the wedding so that Carl could buy his partner out.[2]
Bertha Ringer (23) married Carl Friedrich Benz (27) (born on 25 November 1844 in Mühlburg, Großherzogtum Baden, Deutscher Bund; son of Johann Georg Benz and Josephine Vailant) on 20 July 1872 in Pforzheim.[3] Their children included:
The family lived in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. They first rented a home in Mannheim but Carl soon built their own apartment with two rooms and a kitchen onto the workshop. Although appearing to play a subordinate role in the patriarchal society of the German Empire, Bertha shared her husband’s far-reaching technical visions and was the business partner of her husband, automobile inventor Carl Benz. She encouraged her brilliant but often self-doubting, obstinate, and sullen husband Carl Benz, sharing financial problems, business and technical setbacks and triumphs for nearly 60 years. Without Bertha Benz, there would never have been a Benz company in Mannheim.[2]
Bertha became the first woman driver[4] of an internal-combustion-engine automobile and regularly went on test drives of the new invention. She also became an able mechanic. "Witnesses of the time later reported that she knew the engines and the cars nearly as well as her husband."[2]
In 1888, authorities had placed restrictions on Carl’s motor vehicle drives, which tended to frighten horses. On 5 August 1888, as Carl slept unaware, Bertha defied the ban and taking her sons Richard (13) and Eugen (15) became the first person, male or female, to make a long-distance road trip[4], driving a Benz Patent-Motorwagen "prototype" 180 kilometers round-trip from Mannheim to “visit her family” in Pforzheim. She resolved every technical problem that arose and also suggested design improvements to Carl, including brake lining and climbing gears. The trip attracted worldwide attention and success began to follow[2], although it's said that Carl sulked for six months afterward.[5]
Road sign along the route. |
The Bertha Benz Memorial Route in Germany opened in 2008 to commemorate her journey.[6]
In 1903, the family relocated to Ladenburg. Together with his sons, Carl Benz set up the “Carl Benz Söhne” factory in 1906.[7]
In the 1920s, the automobile inventor was awarded many distinctions, always with his wife at his side. After Carl Benz died on 4 April 1929, Bertha received a lot of attention. She was especially delighted when she was named honorary senator of the Technische Universität Karlsruhe to mark her 95th birthday.[2]
Two days later, on 5 May 1944, Bertha Benz passed away in Ladenburg. She was buried in Friedhof Ladenburg (Ladenburg Cemetery) in Ladenburg, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.[8]
See also:
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R > Ringer | B > Benz > Cäcilie Bertha (Ringer) Benz
Categories: Women's History | Automobile Manufacturers | Featured Connections Archive 2021 | Ladenburg, Baden-Württemberg | Notables
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