[6]

Bertha Benz at age 18

Along the way, several people were frightened by the automobile and the novel trip received a
great deal of publicity, as she had sought. The drive was a key event in the technical
development of the automobile. The pioneering couple introduced several improvements after
Bertha's experiences. She reported everything that had happened along the way and made
important suggestions, such as the introduction of an additional gear for climbing hills and
brake linings to improve brake-power.[citation needed]
Later life

In 1944, on her 95th birthday, Bertha Benz was honoured with the title Honourable Senator,
by the Technical University of Karlsruhe. This is her husband's alma mater and they had
awarded an honorary doctorate degree to him in his lifetime. Two days later, Bertha Benz died
in her villa in Ladenburg, where the workshop of Karl Benz had been built after they had
moved there in 1906 and he established a solely family-held business, Benz and Sons.
Honours
Official signpost of Bertha Benz Memorial Route
Map of Germany with the Bertha Benz Memorial Route, from Mannheim via Heidelberg and
Wiesloch to Pforzheim and back - official heritage path commemorating her journey of 1888
Bertha Benz monument in Wiesloch where she made a stop to take in fuel at the city
pharmacy, which is now dubbed "the first filling station in the world"

In 2008, the Bertha Benz Memorial Route [7] was officially approved as a route of the
industrial heritage of mankind, because it follows Bertha Benz's path during the world's first
long-distance journey by automobile in 1888. Now it is possible to follow the 194 km of signs
indicating her route from Mannheim via Heidelberg to Pforzheim (Black Forest) and back.
The Bertha Benz Challenge, embedded in the framework of the ceremony of Automobile
Summer 2011, the big official German event and birthday party commemorating the invention
of the automobile by Karl Benz 125 years ago, will take place on Bertha Benz Memorial Route
on 10 and 11 September 2011. It will be a globally visible signal for a new automobile
breakthrough, as it will only be open for sustainable mobility: future-oriented vehicles with
alternative drive systems hybrid and electric, hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles and other
extremely economical vehicles. The motto will be: Bertha Benz Challenge - Sustainable
Mobility on the Worlds Oldest Automobile Road!
On 25 January 2011 Deutsche Welle (DW-TV) broadcast worldwide in its series, Made in
Germany, a TV documentary on the invention of the automobile by Karl Benz, highlighting the
very important role of his wife, Bertha Benz. The report is not only on the history of the
automobile, but takes a look at its future as well, shown by the Bertha Benz Challenge on 10
and 11 September 2011.[8]

The documentary The Car is Born produced by Ulli Kampelmann centered around the first
road trip by Bertha Benz.[9]
In 2011, a television movie about the life of Karl and Bertha Benz was made named Karl &
Bertha which premiered on 11 May[10] and was aired by Das Erste on 23 May.[11][12] A trailer
of the movie[13] and a "making of" special were released on YouTube.[14]