Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

stationary combustion engine, a lighter gasoline motor
more suitable for mobile applications was developed in
his workshops. This, along with a chassis based on the
lightweight construction of bicycles and carriages, led
to a new device, the Motorwagen.
Central to the early history of individual mobility based
on motor vehicles is a basic patent, namely, Patent DRP
37435 ‘Vehicle with gas engine operation’ submitted
by Carl Benz and dated 29 January 1886. The patent
claims which are set down refer to a self-propelled
vehicle for the conveyance of ‘one to four persons’ with
a ‘small gasoline engine of whatever type’ which obtains
its gasoline ‘from an apparatus carried on board in
which gasoline derived from ligroin or other volatile
substances is produced’. This patent, therefore, may be
seen as the basis for the invention of the automobile
with an internal combustion engine running on liquid
384 Benz patent of 1886
© Daimler AG
© Daimler AG
� Carl Benz’s patent application of 1886 for his Motorwagen. � Various components of Carl Benz’s Motorwagen, taken from his
1886 patent application.
fuel. Inscribed with it are a number of rare historical
documents, such as formal requests to drive on public
roads in Mannheim with the Motorwagen.
The original certificate issued to the patentee does not
exist and the original documentation that supported the
application was destroyed when the Imperial Patent Office
(Reichspatentamt) was burned in the Second World War.
There is only one original printed copy known to exist
today and, with a high degree of certainty, it can be said
that this copy was in the possession of either Carl Benz or
the company Benz & Cie.; it is now kept in the company
archive of Daimler AG. The ideas documented in the
patent can be considered as the technical groundwork for
individual motor transport, one of the most influential
inventions of the 19th century, that led to today’s
‘automobile society’.
© Daimler AG