22/06/2026
Uraidla Heritage celebrates Bertha Benz who proved the viability of the automobile with the world's first long-distance road trip in 1888 (106km). She also invented the world's first brake pads and initiated the first petrol station.
Bertha Benz's husband was Karl Benz, the mechanical engineer who invented the first patented internal-combustion engined automobile. The couple married in 1872 and were business and engineering partners.
Bertha famously used her dowry to finance his work and personally undertook the world's first long-distance automobile road trip in 1888 to prove the commercial viability of his new Motorwagen patent in Germany.
Mercedes-Benz Club of South Australia Inc