Thread by @MikeStuchbery_

So people were asking me why Bertha Benz, wife of Karl, was such an important figure in automotive history - and modern history in general. Here's why... /1

Bertha, born in 1849, came from money, in an area that was fairly monied in general - the Duchy of Baden, now part of Baden-Württemberg. Educated, pretty, and forthright, she caught the eye of plucky inventor Carl Benz, who came from a slightly lower station. /2

Karl was brilliant, but not a people person. He had trouble working for others. Bertha could see that he was on the cusp of something great, and used her rather large dowry to buy out Karl's partner and keep his business solvent while he developed new engines. /3

Not only that, but Bertha contributed to the development of several Benz engines, and when he decided to prototype the first purpose-built car, she made several improvements now standard in every car.

All this while raising five kids. /4

Karl unveiled the Patent-Motorwagen, driving it around Mannheim in 1886, but business was slow. The workshop wasn't building many for sale. Karl began to lose faith in what he had achieved.

Bertha wasn't having any of it. /5

On the 5th of August, 1888, she took two of her kids and a Motorwagen, without Karl's knowledge. She drove on carriage roads from Mannheim to Pforzheim - about 100km. /6

She had to refuel along the way, adding s solvent, ligroin, to the tank. This was only available at a pharmacy, so the Stadt Apotheke in Wiesloch is considered 'the world's first gas station'. /7

The car broke down a number of times, so Bertha had cobblers and leather workers repair and add parts (such as brake pads!) to the machine. At one point she used a garter to fix a belt. /8

Bertha stayed in Pforzheim for a week. By the time she returned, orders were coming in. The rest, pretty much, is history. Benz's company would later merge with that of Gottlieb Daimler's in 1926, to create the marque we know today - @MercedesBenz & the manufacturer, @Daimler. /9

Carl's Motorwagen and Bertha's initiative kick-started the automotive age and fundamentally reshaped the world we live in today.

You can't do anything in Stuttgart without being reminded of them. /10

Bertha Benz died in 1944, in the small town of Ladenburg. She'd made it almost a century. The last person to have the family name is Jutta Benz, her great-granddaughter. /11

Bertha Benz. What a hero. I'm delighted that I came across her story, and that I see a lot of the local entrepreneurial, can-do spirit in her feat.

Here's a great ad @MercedesBenz made about her. /12

For more about Bertha Benz, there's more on the official @MercedesBenz site. Women, changing the world! /FIN mercedes-benz.com/en/classic/ber…