On August 5, 1888, Bertha Benz made the world's first recorded long-distance road trip by automobile. She proved to her husband and the rest of the world that his invention was suitable for everyday use and had the potential to change everything.

On August 5, 1888, Bertha Benz made the world's first recorded long-distance road trip by automobile. She proved to her husband and the rest of the world that his invention was suitable for everyday use and had the potential to change everything.

Without her husband’s knowledge, Benz’s wife Bertha and their two sons Eugen (15) and Richard (14) embarked on the first long-distance journey in automotive history on an August day in 1888. The route included a few detours and took them from Mannheim to Pforzheim, her place of birth. With this journey of 180 kilometers including the return trip Bertha Benz demonstrated the practicality of the motor vehicle to the entire world. Without her daring – and that of her sons – and the decisive stimuli that resulted from it, the subsequent growth of Benz & Cie. in Mannheim to become the world’s largest automobile plant of its day would have been unthinkable.