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Even Greater Woman Behind Great Car
Mar 14 2008 by Courtney Messenbaugh
3/14/08
First Lady of Benz Helped Cars Get on Their Feet
You've heard the old saying, "Behind every great man is an even greater woman." Well, it's true. I should know, since my husband is great but I'm greater. Kidding! (Kind of.)
Well, that idea is exemplified by Karl Benz, the creator of what we now know as Mercedes-Benz, and his wife, Bertha. Because March is Women's History Month, I figured it's an appropriate time to celebrate Bertha and her great contribution to automotive history. While I'd guess many of you didn't know that a woman's touch was behind those sleek Benzes you see cruising around, I'd also wager that, now that I'm telling you, you're saying, "Of course!"
Bertha was so dedicated to and supportive of her man Karl that, upon their engagement, she gave him her entire dowry, enabling him to buy out his partner and obtain full creative control of his blooming inventions. (Note: The only financial gift I gave my husband upon marrying him was my grad school debt.)
Bertha's best contribution to the Benz legacy, however, came in the form of helping Karl overcome the motorized coach's biggest barrier: She found a way to get people over their "the-devil-must-be-behind-this" skepticism (it was the Victorian Age, after all) about cars.
How did Bertha do this, you ask? Well, with a lot of chutzpah and the age-old trick of going behind her hubby's back. Gotta love a gal who does that!
One summer day in 1888, Bertha took her two teenage sons for a drive in Benz's newly-minted "Patent Motorwagen." They were off to see Bertha's mother 60 miles away — a distance no one had ever come near completing in a car, let alone a woman and her kids!
Bertha may not have had a title for herself, but I think nowadays it would be something like Strategic Marketing Genius. By driving the car so far, she exposed it to people all around and showed them how useful it could be; she created that ever-sought-after "buzz." People became less frightened and more interested in finding out how they could get one for themselves.
Bertha also proved herself to be quite a problem-solver along the way. Because there weren't any gas stations lining the streets in those days, she charmed pharmacists and chemists into giving her some fuel. She fixed a few brake and chain problems with the help of a blacksmith or two, and even used a hairpin to clean out a blocked fuel pipe —� thank goodness for female vanity! She shared her experiences with her husband, thereby helping him make improvements to his Motorwagen.
The moral of the story? Do something radical behind your husband's back — it might just turn into something great! Also, raise a toast to Bertha and know we're all a part of history — or herstory, as some feminists might say.
