The World's First Road Trip

When I heard about Bertha Benz and the world’s first road trip, I knew I had to write about her for one of my Letters From a Time Traveler. The account of her day trip has all the elements of good story-telling: an ingenious plan, hardships along the way, a bit of humor (fixing an ignition wire with a garter!), suspense, and most of all–an unsung heroine who defied the odds.

Gathering artifacts was a little difficult, since everything was written in German. But the patent and the advertisement have plenty of visuals, even if you don’t understand German.  I recreated the Ligroin label and even included some stains to make it look authentic. 

NOTE: Mr. Benz used Karl and Carl interchangeably.  I decided to use Karl as the spelling, since it was his given name.

For more information, see the following links:

The Woman at the Wheel: Historical fiction based on the life of Bertha Benz.https://a.co/d/6zaCWQm   

A model of the Motorwagen that you can build yourself: https://a.co/d/dcZqJ96 

The Mercedez-Benz website includes a section on Bertha Benz:https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/tradition/founders-pioneers/bertha-benz.html 

“Bertha Benz: The Journey That Changed Everything,” a short video created by Mercedez-Benz: https://youtu.be/vsGrFYD5Nfs?si=O4uzedPw1sYgLL-2  

“Carl and Bertha” – If you understand German, you’ll enjoy this movie:  https://youtu.be/UcThQDM3A6E?si=R0y6oP0JJe6ezQh5  

To order a copy of this letter, click here:https://lettersfromatimetraveler.com/products/the-worlds-first-road-trip-individual-letter  

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