Start
Karl Benz was born on November 25, 1844 in Karlsruhe in the family of a worker - a locomotive driver. In 1846, tragedy struck the family. Karl's father died of pneumonia, leaving his wife with a two-year-old child in her arms. A small pension was enough only for the bare necessities, but mother Karla took on any job, just to raise her son and give him a good education. In 1850, Benz entered the elementary school in Karlsruhe. In 1853 he graduated from it and entered the technical lyceum. The boy was distinguished by outstanding abilities, especially he was given the exact sciences. After graduating from the Lyceum at the age of 15, Karl entered the Faculty of Technical Mechanics at the University of Karlsruhe without much effort. And four years later (the full course of study lasted five years), on July 9, 1964, at the age of 19, Karl Benz received an engineering degree.
Formation
Since childhood, knowing the value of money, knowing poverty and need, Benz did not shy away from dirty and hard work. For the first seven years of his independent life, Benz worked at small enterprises in Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Pforzheim, and Vienna. He worked in repair shops, in factories for the production of agricultural equipment. And for a long time he nurtured the idea of his own business. In 1871, this idea came to fruition - Benz and his friend August Ritter opened a private mechanical workshop in Mannheim.
Things did not work out, the owners of the workshop fell into debt. Ritter announced his resignation from the enterprise, which meant the collapse of the company. To save the small company, Benz was forced to turn to the father of the girl he was courting at the time - his future father-in-law, Carl Friedrich Ringer.
A carpenter by profession, a simple man, but firmly on his feet, Carl Ringer appreciated the talent, enterprise and determination of the young Benz. He loaned Benz a significant amount, which, on the one hand, allowed Karl Benz to buy out his share of the company from August Ritter and become the sole owner of the workshop, and on the other hand, greatly strengthened Benz's relationship with the Ringer family.
July 20, 1872 Karl Benz and Cecile Bertha Ringer became spouses. The dowry of the bride was the same loan received by Charles from his father-in-law.
Personal life
The marriage of Karl and Bertha Benz is the clearest example of a happy union of two hearts that lasted a lifetime. Bertha Benz outlived her husband for a long time - she died on May 5, 1944, having survived her 95th birthday by two days. In this marriage, the Benzes had five children.
The role of Berta in the history of the creation of the car is difficult to overestimate. Several times, Karl's company was on the verge of ruin. And Berta came to the rescue, moreover, providing not only moral, but also quite practical support. There is a well-known story when Berta, without the knowledge of her husband, made, in fact, an advertising run on the first Benz car. It happened on August 5, 1888. Berta put her two eldest sons in the car and went on an independent journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim, to her parents. She managed to get to her hometown before sunset, having overcome 106 km of travel in a daylight hours. On the way, Bertha made several trips to pharmacies to buy gasoline, which was sold as a cleaning agent. Worn-out brakes with leather pads she repaired at the saddler's. Broken drive chain - at the blacksmith. Berta cleared the clogged gas line along the way with a hairpin, and replaced the broken insulator of the ignition system with a stocking garter. Having suffered from the climbs that Berta had to push the car with the boys by hand, she advised her husband to equip the car with an engine torque control device. After that, Benz designed an automobile gearbox.
First car
Karl Benz engine
Having acquired a mechanical workshop at his own disposal, Karl Benz took up the development of internal combustion engines - a fashionable novelty of that time. Benz planned to sell motors for use in agriculture and industry. But in parallel with the development of the engine, he was also engaged in another idea - the development of a self-running stroller.
The development of the first engine took more than six years. Karl Benz received a patent for a two-stroke gasoline engine on December 31, 1878. And that was just the first sign. In the next three years, he patented a battery-powered ignition system, a spark plug, an accelerator, a carburetor, an engine water cooler and, somewhat later, a clutch and gearbox.
The workshop was engaged in the repair of agricultural machinery and horse-drawn carts, barely covering Benz's expenses for inventive activities. Money was sorely lacking.
In 1882, feverishly looking for funds, Benz organized the Gasmotoren Fabrik Mannheim joint-stock company. But the company was never able to launch the production of engines. In 1883, Benz stepped down from the company's board and invested in a small bicycle workshop. The new company was named Benz & Company Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik and was later renamed Benz & Cie. It was at this enterprise that Karl Benz managed to establish mass production of gasoline engines. In the next three years, Benz, along with improving the design of the motor, was involved in the creation of the first car.
A rare shot of Karl Benz's first car. It has not been preserved to date.
What was this car? A tricycle carriage on bicycle wheels. The front wheel is controlled by a steering mechanism with a handle rotating in a horizontal plane. the four-stroke petrol engine was placed under the seat above the rear axle. Torque was transmitted to the rear axle by a bicycle chain. In general, the car was extremely capricious in operation and unreliable. But it was the first car in the world. Or - one of the first (in this case, we do not consider the issue of priorities). Throughout 1886 and the beginning of 1887, Motorwagen underwent "sea trials". In fact, Benz simply could not sell the car and was forced to drive it himself. In 1887, Benz's car went to the World Exhibition in Paris.
In 1888, Benz sold the first car in Germany. In the same year, the Paris branch of the Benz company was opened - France showed more interest in the new product than Germany.
Karl Benz driving his first car.
The year 1888 was a turning point for Benz. In total, from 1886 to 1893, Karl Benz managed to sell 25 cars of the first Motorwagen model.
In 1893, the second Victoria model was prepared for production. The car received four wheels and a more powerful (about three times) engine of 3 horsepower. The maximum speed of the car was 20 km / h. During the year, Benz managed to sell 45 copies of the car.
In 1894 the Victoria was replaced by the Velo. For the first time in history, car races were held on these machines (Paris-Rouen). In 1895, the Benz company became a full-fledged automobile company. The first ever truck and bus were produced.
The phenomenon of "Mercedes"
Since 1889, after the Benz car was again presented at an exhibition in Paris, the cars of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, another German car manufacturer, went head to head. But still, Karl Benz cars sold better - they had a reputation for reliable and durable cars.
In 1897, Karl Benz designed a 2-cylinder, four-stroke boxer engine, which brought success. The motor turned out to be compact and powerful.
In 1906 Karl and Bertha Benz moved to Ladenburg. Benz felt tired and needed rest. Son Eugene followed his parents. Ladenburg became the last home for the aging Karl Benz...
In 1926, in the wake of the post-war economic crisis that swept Germany, the companies of Benz and Daimler decided to unite in order to save the fading business. On June 28 of the same year, Benz & Cie and DMG merged to form a new company, Daimler-Benz. All car models produced by the company were called Mercedes-Benz.
Under this now legendary name, a 1902 car was released, which became fateful for the Daimler company. Equipped with a 35-horsepower engine, this car was considered at one time the height of perfection. The name "Mercedes 35h" was given by the creators of the car at the request of Emil Ellinek, a German entrepreneur, racing driver, who formulated the engine specifications for this car. (According to other sources, the first car, named after the youngest daughter of Ellinek, was released in 1899, a year before the death of Gottlieb Daimler).
The success of the Mercedes was so convincing that in 1903 Emil Ellinek filed a petition to change his surname. After obtaining permission, he became Emil Ellinek-Mercedes. Ellinek-Mercedes died on January 1, 1918.
Last years
In this picture, Karl Benz, driving his own Patent Motorwagen, is 81 years old..
In the last years of his life, Karl Benz retired. He enjoyed an impeccable reputation as the founding father of the global automotive industry.
Outstanding engineers of our time worked in the combined Daimler-Benz company. In particular, Ferdinand Porsche Sr., the creator of the most famous Mercedes models, an inventor, a great auto designer ...
Karl Benz died on April 4, 1929 from pneumonia in Ladenburg at the age of 85.
Karl Benz is a German engineer, inventor, and automotive pioneer. In 1885 he built the world's first car Benz (Motorwagen, stored in Munich). A patent for the invention of this car was received by Benz on January 29, 1886.
The ancestors of several generations of the Karl Benz family lived in Pfaffenort and were always engaged in blacksmithing. Karl's father first became a skilled blacksmith and metalworker, but later worked as a locomotive driver on the railroad. Karl Benz went to high school in Karlsruhe and later, under the influence of his mother, entered the technical school in Karlsruhe and successfully completed it, passing the final exams brilliantly. While studying at a technical school, the main interest for young Karl was steam locomotives and other means of transport powered by steam. The difficult period of life for Carl was the years after graduating from technical school. He worked as an employee in many engineering companies, but was always obsessed with the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a new type of engine, since Otto atmospheric engines were widely used at that time.
After the death of his mother in 1870, Benz decided to leave work and establish his own workshop with an acquaintance in which experiments could be carried out. They bought a small piece of land and started by making metal parts. However, as his partner resisted the idea of experimenting with engine development, Carl had to give up his dreams. Benz is almost resigned to it.
Soon he met Bertha Ringer and married her. Thanks to his wife's inheritance, he managed to buy out his leisurely partner's share and became the sole owner of the workshop. Now he could devote all his time to the development of a new engine. Unfortunately, he did not pay attention to the financial condition of his enterprise, and it soon went bankrupt in 1877. All banks refused him further loans, although by this time he had developed a new internal combustion engine and now there was an urgent need to start production of a prototype model. Despite considerable difficulties, Benz managed to create a prototype of a new two-stroke engine, but he could not bring it to the market, since an English company had already developed and patented a similar engine, which made it impossible to obtain an authorship certificate. However, the Patent Office did issue a patent for the fuel system, which eventually allowed it to start producing a number of engine models. He founded a new company that began manufacturing small two-stroke engines.
In 1885 Karl Benz founded another new firm with his investors. During the day he worked in his workshops, and at night he experimented in a barn near his house. Perseverance, initiative and determination allowed Benz to overcome the initial difficulties. The result was the creation of a three-wheeled car with a 4-stroke engine in his workshop. Benz himself designed and developed all the components of his car and himself came to solve many technical problems. In January 1886, Karl Benz received a patent for his new car, which did not arouse much interest among buyers, although the engines were in great demand in the market, especially in Germany. They were also produced under license in France by Panhard et Levassor (Panhard and Levassor).
In 1889, Benz's representative in France presented his car at an automobile exhibition in Paris. At the same time, cars of the German company "Daimler" ("Daimler") were demonstrated there. Unfortunately, the exhibition did not bring successful sales. This was until 1890, when a number of German firms did not have an interest in the production of the Benz car. A new company was founded, producing exclusively the Benz car. In the following period, Benz worked continuously on his new project, including test runs of cars. In 1897 he developed a 2-cylinder horizontal engine known as the "contra engine". Firm "Benz" soon achieved recognition and high popularity among buyers due to the high sports performance of the cars it developed. Finally, after many years of failure, a more successful stage came for Karl Benz. In 1926, the Benz company merged with the Daimler company ("Daimler"), the Daimler-Benz company arose, which still exists today. Karl Benz died on April 4, 1929 at the age of 85.
At least since the 17th century, European scientists have been occupied with the issue of creating a wagon that could move and transport goods without the use of horse traction. But who invented the first car, and why did it happen only at the end of the 19th century?
There are several stages in the development of the idea of the automotive industry:
- Carriages of the 17th - 18th centuries, using a pedal drive and made only as funny curiosities.
- Self-propelled machines with steam drive. Their tests took place in the XVIII - XIX centuries, but not a single model became mass.
- Electric cars developed in the first half of the 19th century.
- Automobiles based on the internal combustion engine. Thanks to him, Karl Benz went down in history as a man, the first car in the world.
When the first car was invented: the story of Karl Benz
Karl Friedrich Michael Benz was born in November 1844 in the small town of Mühlburg in the German principality of Baden-Württemberg. His father was the train engineer Johann Georg Benz. He died of pneumonia when the boy was two years old.
Although the family did not live well, the mother decided to give Karl a good education. He studied at the grammar school in Karlsruhe, where he showed brilliant abilities. At the age of nine, Karl continued his education at a science-oriented lyceum. At the age of 15, the young man began to study mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe, and in 1864 he graduated from it.
As a young man, Karl Benz rode a bicycle and pondered the idea of a vehicle that would replace horse-drawn vehicles. In the years after university, he worked in several engineering companies, but he did not stay in one for a long time.
In 1869, the young man came to Mannheim, where he began working as a draftsman at a scale factory, then moved to Pforzheim, then to Vienna, where he worked in a company that built railways.
In 1871, Karl, together with a partner, founded his first company - a mechanical factory in Mannheim. Soon he bought out the partner's share. In 1872 Karl married Bertha Ringer, who became his faithful life partner and companion in all his undertakings. Things weren't going well for the business, but Benz was working on an idea for a new two-stroke engine. He managed to complete the work on December 31, 1878. Karl Benz received a patent for it the following year.
Following this, the entrepreneur developed and patented a speed control system, spark ignition, spark plugs, a carburetor, a gear lever, a clutch and a water cooler.
Due to financial problems, the Mannheim bank demanded that the Benz business be merged with others. The couple created a joint company with the Buhler brothers, one of whom was a photographer, the other a cheese merchant. The company became a joint stock company, but Carl retained only 5% of the shareholding. When developing new products, the partners did not take into account his suggestions. Already in 1883, Karl Benz left the post of director of the joint-stock company.
Creation of the Benz car
In the same year, he founded a gas engine company with two partners. The new venture was doing well, and Karl had time to pursue his main passion - the development of a vehicle that does not use horse traction.
In 1885, he completed the work and designed the first car, which he named "Motorvagen". This date gives us the answer to the question of when the first car was invented. The vehicle had three wire wheels, a four-stroke engine designed by Benz and placed between the rear wheels. The invention of a German engineer is considered the first real car.
Soon, Karl received a patent for his invention, where it was called a "gas-powered car." Its first test in 1885, due to control problems, led to an accident - the car crashed into a wall. A year later, there were successful tests on the road. Soon Benz made two modifications to his model. In 1887, a car with wooden wheels was shown at the Paris Exhibition.
In 1888, the production of Benz cars for sale began. Through his partner, the entrepreneur began selling cars in Paris, where they showed more interest.
Bertha Benz ride and car improvement
When the first automobile was invented, it did not yet have a gearbox and could not climb uphill on its own. In August 1888, Berta did not tell her husband anything, took their two sons with her and went on a trip on the invention of her husband. She traveled from Mannheim to Pforzheim, covering a distance of 106 kilometers. This was the first long-distance road trip in history.
Bertha wanted to show her husband that his invention had a future, it was useful for people, and the car would bring him financial success. Frau Benz left Mannheim before dawn. Her husband's invention did not yet have a fuel tank, so gasoline was poured directly into the carburetor. Along the way, she bought gasoline thinner from pharmacies and filled her car with it.
Along the way, Bertha cleaned the fuel line with a hatpin, changed the chain of the car at the blacksmith. When the wooden brakes began to work poorly, she asked to replace them with leather ones. The participants of the trip added water to cool the engine. The car could not overcome the slope, and Frau Benz and her sons had to push it. Despite these trials, by nightfall they reached Pforzheim, where Bertha's mother lived. Karl Benz's wife sent her husband a telegraph message about the trip, and a few days later she returned home.
Although some people were frightened when they saw a car driving on the road, Bertha Benz's trip caused a public outcry and drew attention to the invention. After the trip, the couple finalized the vehicle, adding a mechanism for overcoming the rise in the mountain and better braking.
The era of veterans in the automotive industry
After that, the couple continued to develop their company, which by the end of the 19th century became the largest manufacturer of cars in Germany. The activities of Karl Benz gave impetus to the development of the automotive industry in Europe. In the history of the automotive industry, this is called the "era of veterans." Their models were presented by Eduard Butler in England, Rudolf Egg in Switzerland, Leon Bolle in France.
At the beginning of the 20th century, car production started in France. French cars in 1903 accounted for almost half of all produced in the world. But it was Germany that remained in history as the country where the one who invented the first car lived.
In the winter of 1886, the German mechanic Karl Benz received a patent for the three-wheeled vehicle he invented, equipped with a gas engine, which would later be called a car. So, now we are celebrating the 130th anniversary of our favorite vehicle.
To be honest, more than 400 people from different countries of the world claimed the role of the inventor of the car. The question is, why Benz? The answer is simple: he was the first to patent his brainchild. Nevertheless, even during the lifetime of the inventor, his primacy was questioned. Many contemporaries believed that the first self-propelled carriage was invented by another German - Gottlieb Daimler, who in 1885 received a patent for a bicycle with a motor. This fact gave rise to talk about the championship of Daimler. Let's try to figure it out.
Biography facts
Karl Friedrich Michael Benz was born on November 26, 1844 in the German town of Ladenburg near Mannheim in the family of a hereditary blacksmith Hans-Georg Benz. About a year before his birth, the Karlsruhe-Heidelberg railway line opened nearby, where the father of the future inventor got a job as a machinist. But a couple of years after the birth of Karl Benz Sr., he caught a cold, fell ill and died. The family remained in the care of the mother.
For Karl, the railway has always been something unusually attractive and mysterious. He himself later recalled that already in early childhood, no matter what he drew, he got a locomotive, no matter what he played, he got a train. Even in the evening the little boy threw himself into bed, puffing like a locomotive, and woke up in the morning, repeating the same sounds. He said: "For me, the locomotive was the highest goal, my favorite dream." As a result, Karl was so carried away by steam locomotives that even in his youth he set out to build a locomotive that would run without rails ...
Carl's mother, being a sane and practical woman, without overwriting her son's hereditary interest in technology, predicted for him a career as an official. Therefore, she made every effort to give him a good education. Benz was lucky with the teachers: the director of the lyceum was the famous German poet Johann-Peter Goebel. Later, at the Higher Polytechnic School in Karlsruhe, Ferdinand Redtenbacher, one of the founders of the German school of theoretical engineering, became his teacher. The well-known theoretical scientist Frani Grashof also worked there.
During his studies and immediately after graduating from the Polytechnic School, Karl had to work hard to pay for his education and support his family. The young man was a photographer, watchmaker, worker, then a draftsman and designer at a number of enterprises. He expressed his life credo with the words: "More respect for the craft."
In 1867, Benz first saw a bicycle and immediately built something similar. But his real passion was engines. Since the time of the Polytechnic School, Karl was convinced that the gas engine was more promising for use in transport than the steam engine. And that is why he devoted a lot of time to the design of such motors. The dream of youth - a self-propelled carriage - was also not forgotten, however, now the inventor wanted to build a wagon powered by an internal combustion engine.
Own business
In 1871, Benz decided to open a firm for the design and construction of stationary gas engines. The business promised to become profitable, since the booming industry demanded such equipment. But money was not enough, I had to take a companion. A year after the founding of the company, Benz married Bertha Ringer, having received a decent dowry for his wife. And immediately bought out the partner's share, becoming the sole owner of the enterprise. That's when he built his first workable two-stroke engine.
Support in the work was provided by his wife, who meekly endured all the hardships of life that resulted from Carl's fanatical attempts to build a motor crew, which took the lion's share of the family income. Things got to the point that in 1877 the bank refused to finance Benz. However, the inventor continued to work and in 1879 he tried to patent his engine. Alas, during the patent examination it turned out that shortly before Benz, a similar unit was patented in the UK.
Nevertheless, Benz was granted a patent, but not for the entire engine, but for the "original fuel supply system." Among other things, this gave the right to produce motors. Which the designer used. Having found partners, he organized a new enterprise for the production of industrial engines, although he still spent most of his time creating a self-propelled crew.
This, of course, distracted Karl from the main business and greatly annoyed business partners - their money was not allocated for dubious experiments, but for specific production. As a result, everyone refused to work with the inventor and he had to look for new investors. In 1883, Benz again managed to find financial support and found the company Benz & Co. in Mannheim. Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik. From the same mistakes, the corresponding conclusions were drawn: work on the motor crew continued in the home workshop.
The car was born!
The designer himself had to promote his invention. In 1888, Benz exhibited it at the Munich Industrial Exhibition and personally demonstrated the car for four hours a day, driving around the city. However, despite the general admiration and even the gold medal awarded to the exhibit, there were still no buyers. In an attempt to secure applications for his invention, Carl took out patents outside of Germany.
According to the memoirs of Benz himself, the first buyer of the car was a resident of Paris, Emile Roger. In 1887, he bought one car, and when it performed well, he bought another batch.
The three-wheeled carriage turned out to be unstable, so from 1893 Benz switched to the production of the four-wheeled Viktoria with a 3 hp engine, and a year later the Velo model appeared before the public. Gradually, the demand for cars grew, and to the extent that things went uphill. By the beginning of 1901, Benz's enterprise had become one of the largest in its industry and had branches in other countries. In 1903, together with his son Eugen, he founded the new company Carl Benz & Sohne in Ladenburg.
The inventor was aware of the importance of his offspring and later wrote: "I can safely say that I was the first to create a car and overcome the difficulties associated with its implementation." But contemporaries were in no hurry to recognize Benz's primacy in the invention of the automobile. The case, as usual, was overgrown with numerous "details". So, already at the beginning of the 20th century, some authors argued that “Benz was Daimler’s employee at work at the gas engine factory in Deitz and that the ideas of both inventors then did not meet with recognition from either Otto or his companion Langen.”
This was not true, but then, as, indeed, now, few people were interested in the truth. Everyone except Benz, of course, this version was fine. It got to the point that in a number of publications, the championship in the invention of the car was attributed not even to Daimler, but to third parties, most often the French. There were many reasons for this, but the main one was that at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, France was the most automobile country in the world.
All this drove the aging inventor to despair, because Karl Benz had invested his whole life in cars. And although he was lucky, as not many inventors are lucky, he saw the triumphal procession of his offspring around the world, nevertheless, offensive sounded everywhere: it was not Benz who invented the car!
Therefore, memoirs appeared, where Karl Benz describes in detail the process of inventing a car. The seventh chapter of his book is called "Inventors" of the car "and is dedicated to upholding historical justice. As a result, the merits of Karl Benz were recognized and he is rightfully considered the man who gave the world a car.
Carl Friedrich Michael Benz - a great German engineer, inventor of the world's first gasoline-powered car, a pioneer in the automotive industry. From his company, "Daimler-Benz AG" was later formed.
Biography.
The family dynasty of Bentz lived in Pfaffenort for several generations and traded in blacksmithing.
Karl Benz was born on November 25, 1844 in Karlsruhe. He was left without a father at a very young age. When his son was two years old, Karl's father, who worked as a train driver, died of a cold. Mother, despite all the difficulties, tried her best to give her son a decent education.
Karl Benz went to high school in Karlsruhe. Later, under the influence of his mother, he entered and then successfully graduated from a technical school, brilliantly passing his final exams. While studying at the technical school, Karl Benz was particularly interested in steam locomotives and other steam-powered vehicles. A difficult life began for Karl after the end of those. school: he worked as an employee at many engineering enterprises, but at the same time he had the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a new type of motor, since Otto atmospheric engines were becoming quite popular at that time.
After the death of his mother in 1870, Benz decided to leave work and establish his own workshop with an acquaintance in which experiments could be carried out. To do this, they purchased a small plot of land and started by making metal spare parts. There was no talk about experiments in the field of engine development, since Benz's partner was categorically against it.
Soon Karl met Bertha Ringer and married her. A decent inheritance from his wife allowed Benz to buy out the share of his leisurely partner, and he became the full owner of the workshop. Benz was completely immersed in the development of a new engine, spending all his time on it. Unfortunately, since Benz was a designer and not an economist, he did not pay attention to the financial condition of his enterprise, which led to bankruptcy in 1877. The firm was denied credit, which caused new difficulties: the engine had already been developed, but there were no funds for the production of a prototype model. With great difficulty, Benz creates a sample of a new two-stroke engine, but it turns out that one English company has a patent for a similar invention, so the designer was unable to obtain a certificate of authorship. However, the Patent Office did issue a patent for the fuel system, which eventually allowed it to start producing a number of engine models. Carl founded a new company that was engaged in the manufacture of small two-stroke engines. The engines were in great demand in the market, especially in Germany. They were also produced under license in France by Panhard et Levassor (Panhard and Levassor).
In 1885, Karl Benz and his investors opened another firm. Carl spent the whole working day in his workshops, and at night he conducted experiments in a barn near his house. Purposefulness, initiative and perseverance helped Benz in a difficult task. The three-wheeler with a four-stroke engine, all the components of which were designed by Karl himself, was the result of long work and sleepless nights. In January 1886, Benz received a patent for his new invention, however, it did not arouse much interest among buyers.
The events of August 1888 radically changed the situation. And all thanks to Bertha Benz, Karl's wife, who, secretly from her husband, together with her sons 13 and 15 years old, arranged a “small rally” to the neighboring city, located at a distance of 106 km. During the trip, I had to repeatedly buy gasoline, which was sold in pharmacies as a cleaning agent, to replace worn brake linings from a saddler. The car was pushed uphill several times. On the way, people flocked in crowds to stare at such a miracle.
All of Germany learned about this long-distance rally. And the press paid serious attention not only to the trip, but also to Karl Benz's car itself. Since that time, his path to fame and success began.
Gradually, the demand for Benz cars began to grow, financial affairs went uphill, and the inventor began to work on new models. The first four-wheeled car was created in 1893, and six years later their total number exceeded 2,000 models (572 models per year). Thus, Karl Benz's company took first place in the world in terms of production among car manufacturers. During the First World War (1914-1918) the engine and automobile industry reached its peak of development - the enterprise became famous for its products almost all over the world. However, the collapse of Germany led to the complete collapse of the country's economy, including the automotive industry.
In 1889, an automobile exhibition was held in Paris, where models of the German company Daimler (Daimler), as well as the car of Karl Benz, were presented. Unfortunately, the exhibition did not bring successful sales. So it was until 1890, until a number of German firms became interested in the production of the Benz car. A new company was founded to specialize exclusively in the production of Benz cars. In 1897, Benz developed a 2-cylinder horizontal engine known as the "contra engine". Soon, Benz achieved public recognition and high popularity among buyers due to the high sports results of the cars it developed. In 1926, the merger of the two companies "Benz" and "Daimler" took place, resulting in the emergence of the company "Daimler-Benz", which exists to this day.
Karl Benz died on April 4, 1929 at the age of 85. Unlike many other inventors, he was honored and rich.
