AUTOMOTIVE
APR 17, 2022
The Grand History Of Mercedes-Benz : Endless Innovations
The world’s oldest car manufacturer from German continues to innovate for better automobile experience.
Mercedes-Benz is a German automotive company that manufactures various types of vehicles such as cars, trucks and buses.
Mercedes-Benz started as two men named Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler who were determined to free the world from horse-powered transportation. In the 1880s, the two did research and found the car separately in Southern Germany.
Daimler and its chief-engineer, Wilhelm Maybach, together invented the four-stroke engine, both working together at Cannstatt. Meanwhile, Benz has his shop in Mannheim near Heidelberg.
Although both are in Southern Germany, according to history, there is no record that reveals that the two inventors had met in person.
The origin of Mercedes-Benz comes from Karl Benz’s invention of the world’s first gasoline-powered car which was patented in January 1886, the Benz Patent Motorwagen. Patent number 37435 can be referred to as the birth certificate of the world’s first car named Benz.
The first long-distance journey using the Benz Patent Motor Car was carried out not by Karl Benz, the creator, but by his wife and children, without her husband’s knowledge. Bertha Benz takes her children on an intercity trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in Germany.
The name Mercedes itself comes from a German-born businessman living in France, Emil Jellinek. He was a German-born entrepreneur who later settled in France and became a car distributor for DMG products.
DMG stands for Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, the automotive company founded by Gottlieb Daimler. At the time, Jellinek asked Maybach to make a fast car that was light and safe to drive in 1900.
On April 2, 1900, Maybach began building cars at the request of Jellinek. It was a milestone in the history of “Mercedes Benz”. The name Mercedes is taken from Emil Jellinek’s daughter, Mercedes Jellinek.
Mercedes in Spanish or “Merci” in French means gratitude, or a pleasant gift. Then the name “Mercedes” was then patented as a trademark in 1902.
One thing that many people will definitely recognize from Mercedes is the iconic three-pointed star logo. The creation of this logo stems from Gottlieb Daimler’s vision of the universal use of his engine “on land, on water and in the air”.
Registered as a trade symbol in 1909 by the DMG, this logo did not initially have a ring element on the outside of the star. It wasn’t until 1913 that the star logo that adorned the radiator was given a wide ring and the words “Mercedes” with four small stars inside.
In 1926, DMG’s name was officially changed to “Mercedes Benz” after the merger between the Benz and Daimler companies which made the company name Daimler-Benz. They started to produce the first car using the Mercedes-Benz brand since 1926 after the merger.
Prior to joining, Mercedes was a rival to Benz & Co, which at that time also owned a trademark. The merging of these two industrial entities was marked by the merging of the Mercedes and Benz logos. The three-pointed star logo is positioned in the center, with the Mercedes and Benz names on the top and bottom respectively.
There are slight modifications to this new logo. A wreath or laurel of the Benz logo previously encircled the star logo. This combination is used by this German manufacturer until now.
On October 7, 1927 the Mercedes-Benz name was registered as a trademark, followed by the logo officially registered on August 28, 1928. The Mercedes-Benz name and logo are known as a symbol of tradition, innovation and luxury in the automotive world.
Today, Mercedes-Benz is one of the most recognized car companies in the world and also the oldest car company in the world that has survived to this day.
related post