On the Historical Tracks of Bertha Benz

On August 3, 1963, the MWM premises in Mannheim, Germany, presented an interesting scene: On that day, vintage cars of various makes, such as Dixi, Brennabor, Bugatti, Ford, and Adler, converged on the premises of Motorenwerke Mannheim. They all wanted to follow the historical Bertha Benz Route. In 1888, Bertha Benz had driven the patent motorcar built by her husband Carl Benz from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back, demonstrating the usefulness of the automobile. The vintage car campaign was organized by “Allgemeiner Schnauferl-Club”, an association that is still active in this area. The tour started at gate 2 of the MWM premises and ended in Pforzheim. The participants were welcomed with an MWM banner with the writing “This is where BENZ automobiles were built until 1908”. A total of 150 vintage cars took part in the Bertha Benz memorial tour, though not all were able to reach the destination. Eventually, 125 cars reached Pforzheim, where the drivers were rewarded with a badge in remembrance of this special day.

Would you like to follow the historical route? For details about the route and the courageous trip Bertha Benz made with the motorcar, go to the “Bertha Benz Memorial Route” website at http://www.bertha-benz.de.