The Bertha Benz Memorial Route comprises the biggest part of North Baden. Discover the Upper Rhine Valley with its favorable climate and the Bergstrasse with the earliest almond blossoms in Germany; enjoy the scenic drive through the Odenwald Mountains with their natural reserve and the often-praised Neckar valley with its many castles. Continue your leisurely travel on the Memorial Route through the region of the Kraichgau, which is often referred to as the German Tuscany. Then make your way to the world-famous northern Black Forest with its Natural Park and mundane Baden-Baden just around the corner. These landscapes are also linked by what makes Baden, the land of the connoisseurs, absolutely unique. The gastronomic culture of Baden, which splendidly competes with Alsatian and French cooking, as well as a wine, that really fits the motto smiled upon by the sun.
When following the route driven by Bertha Benz in 1888, you come across some of Germany's most outstanding sightseeing highlights.
Mannheim, the City of the Squares, with its castle (being the building with the highest number of windows in Europe after the Castle of Versailles), its water tower and Luisenpark; Dr. Carl Benz invented the automobile in Square T 6, which is a residential area today. Ladenburg with its beautiful medieval city center based on Roman foundations, the Dr. Carl Benz Museum, as well as the villa of the Benz family. Schriesheim towered by Strahlenburg castle, romantic Heidelberg with its often-praised castle and the vibrating old city center, where you can find one of the oldest universities in Europe founded in 1386.
Wiesloch with the world's first filling station and renowned vineries and Bruchsal with its baroque castle. In Grötzingen, at the outskirts of Karlsruhe, Dr. Carl Benz was born; the Fan city is grouped around the castle from the year 1715, which accommodates the Badisches Landesmuseum state museum today. Pforzheim, the Golden City and the gate to the Black Forest, with its jewelry museum. Bretten, where religious reformer Philipp Melanchton was born and which is just around the corner from Maulbronn monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where Hermann Hesse (Steppenwolf) was a student. Hockenheim with its Formula 1 race course and the motor sports museum and finally Schwetzingen, its castle and the world-famous castle gardens, as well as the world's most delicious asparagus (it must have been invented here).
In 1886, Dr Carl Benz invented the automobile in Mannheim (Reich Patent No. 37435) - but nobody wanted to buy it.
But when Bertha Benz, his wife, went with her 13- and 15-year-old sons on a long-distance trip in 1888 from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back - without her husband's knowledge - to prove that the horseless coach was absolutely suitable for daily use, it became a huge success with almost a billion drivers worldwide today! Bertha Benz (née Ringer) was born on 3 May 1849 in Pforzheim, Germany. She married inventor Karl Benz on 20 July 1872, and died 5 May 1944 in Ladenburg. She invested in Benz's business in 1871, enabling him to develop the first patented automobile.