Gottlieb Daimler
The story begins in 1834 in Schorndorf, east of Stuttgart. Gottlieb Daimler was born as the second son of an innkeeper and master baker. His keen technical understanding prompted Daimler to learn the trade of gunsmith. But the Swabian tinkerer felt called to higher things. After completing his apprenticeship and working for several years in an Alsatian machine factory, Gottlieb Daimler began studying mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic School in Stuttgart in 1857.
Who was Gottlieb Daimler?
Gottlieb Daimler was one of the founding fathers of the world's oldest automobile manufacturer, now Daimler AG, and inventor of the high-speed gasoline engine. After an international engineering career in England and France, among other places, Gottlieb Daimler founded an experimental workshop in his garden house in Cannstatt in 1882. Together with his employee Wilhelm Maybach, the inventor duo scaled down and qualified the four-stroke engine invented by Nikolaus Otto for mobile use. It is a long and arduous journey.
What does Gottlieb Daimler invent?
In 1885, the time has come. Gottlieb Daimler revolutionizes engine construction with the first small, high-speed gasoline engine capable of powering vehicles of all kinds on land and in water. Gottlieb Daimler invented the first motorcycle made of wood, the so-called two-wheeled "Reitwagen" and patented it. Somewhat later, a motorboat and a carriage mounted with a gasoline engine followed - the first four-wheeled automobile was born.
But the patent for the first automobile ever was secured by someone else. It is none other than Carl Benz, who at the same time develops his 3-wheeled Benz Patent Motor Car in Mannheim. With a long-distance trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back, his wife Bertha Benz proved to the whole world the functionality of her husband's Benz motor car.
The Daimler Engine Company
Gottlieb Daimler began to take his idea around the world. In England, France and America, his engines provide the impetus for motorization there. Together with Wilhelm Maybach, Max Duttenhofer and Wilhelm Lorenz, he founded the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and moved into new factory premises on the Seelberg in Cannstatt in 1887. After only a few years, Gottlieb Daimler resigned from the company due to disputes with his co-partners. After a short time, however, he returned as a shareholder, Daimler became Chairman of the Supervisory Board and brought an unexpected upswing to DMG.
Gottlieb Daimler revolutionized the world with his invention. His work was far more comprehensive than he would ever have thought possible. Motorization on water, on land and in the air became a reality all over the world. With his developments of the first high-speed gasoline engine, he ushered in a new era in human history that still defines our daily lives today.
How did Benz and Daimler come together?
Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, although they never met in person, are inextricably linked through their pioneering developments in the field of engine construction and the automobile. While Gottlieb Daimler laid the foundation for motorised mobility with his high-speed petrol engine, Carl Benz contributed to the commercialisation of the automobile with his patented motor car.
All focused - yet they shared the same vision: to change the world through technological innovation. It is remarkable how the paths of Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler developed in parallel without them realising it. Their company history and their work not only inspired the automotive industry, but also shaped the entire industrial landscape of the 20th century.
The merger of their companies to form Daimler-Benz AG in 1926 was therefore not only an economic step, but also a symbolic recognition of their joint achievements. Under the umbrella of Daimler-Benz AG, their inventions continued and the company became synonymous with quality, innovation and progress in the automotive industry. Today, Mercedes Benz is a car brand with cult status and has become an integral part of the market.
