Automotive History - Catalog - Page 5
T
he Benz patent of 1886, which described a
three-wheeled vehicle with a gas engine,
marked the beginning of automobility and is
regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile.
For the first time, Carl Benz designed the vehicle
and drive as a single unit, a groundbreaking
technical innovation. The patent was filed in
January 1886 and formed the basis for the world's
first vehicle with an internal combustion engine and
electric ignition.
Benz continuously improved his vehicle, presented
it at the Paris World Exhibition in 1889 and was the
first to begin series production of cars.
Today, only one copy of the patent is known to
exist, as the original and other important documents
were lost during the Second World War.
Its preservation in the Daimler-Benz Museum as a
UNESCO World Documentary Heritage would be
invaluable and would bear witness to the origins of
today's "automobile company".
DRP No. 37,435, patented on
January 29, 1886; issued on
November 2, 1886.
Berlin: Photographischer Druck der
Reichsdruckerei [1886].
1 sheet description with 2 pages text,
double-column (185 x 265 mm), 2
folded lithographic sheets with
technical drawings, sheet 1: figures 1
to 5 (351 x 265 mm), sheet 2: figures
6 to 11 (512 x 265 mm).
In excellent condition. Only one
other copy, from the archive of
Mercedes Benz AG, is known
according to the UNESCO World
Heritage inscription!
Reference: UNESCO (2024, 29. March):
MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER THE BENZ PATENT OF 1886
UNESCO. https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/germany_benz.pdf