- Gottlieb Daimler died 125 years ago, on 6 March 1900
- With his compact internal combustion engine, he realised the vision of mobility on land, at sea and in the air
- 1885: Reitwagen – 1886: Four-wheeled automobile and motorboat – 1888: Airship propulsion
- Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft was founded in 1890
- In August 2025, an authentic replica of the Reitwagen will be in action at Classics & Coffee
The automobile pioneer and company founder Gottlieb Daimler died in Cannstatt 125 years ago, on 6 March 1900, at the age of only 65. The Mercedes-Benz Group is honouring his outstanding achievements for the company and the development of modern mobility.
“A new form of propulsion for mobility on land, at sea and in the air: as a visionary, engineer and company founder, Gottlieb Daimler was firmly convinced that innovative technology could change people’s lives for the better. If this cosmopolitan mobility pioneer were alive today, he would be seeking solutions for tomorrow in the same way. We at Mercedes-Benz Heritage are proud of Daimler’s legacy and bring it to life through our work.”
Marcus Breitschwerdt, CEO Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH
From gunsmith to automobile pioneer
Gottlieb Daimler was born in Schorndorf on 17 March 1834 to a family of bakers, and trained as a gunsmith after leaving school. The talented young craftsman came to the attention of Ferdinand Steinbeis, the principal promoter of Württemberg’s industrialisation. It was he who financed Daimler’s studies with scholarships as well as his stays abroad. The young man seized the opportunity with great vigour, became an engineer and turned his innovative ideas into new products. “Success only comes when visions become deeds,” is how Daimler described his personal approach.
After holding several management positions in the mechanical engineering industry, Gottlieb Daimler settled in Cannstatt in 1882 and purchased a villa on Taubenheimstrasse. He had a brick extension added to the greenhouse in the large garden to create a workshop – it became the nucleus of his own start-up company with the aim of “disruption” in the modern sense of the word.
It was here that he, together with his long-time companion and colleague Wilhelm Maybach, developed the high-speed four-stroke engine as a universal drive system. The single-cylinder unit replaced traditional drive systems. It was used in road and rail vehicles, boats and airships, among other things. Compact and powerful, the engine allowed for a completely new level of mobility.
The first “motorcycle” in history returns to the road
Daimler and Maybach reached a milestone in 1885: They tested the high-speed four-stroke internal combustion engine in public with the two-wheeled Reitwagen, or “riding car” in English. It was the first road vehicle in the world with this drive system, and at the same time the first “motorcycle” in history. Daimler applied for a patent for the invention (DRP 36423 dated 29 August 1885).
To mark “140 Years of the Reitwagen”, Mercedes-Benz Classic is putting an authentic replica of the motorcycle with a wooden frame and Daimler single-cylinder engine into action: at the open-brand classic car meet Classics & Coffee at the Mercedes-Benz Museum on 31 August 2025, a special event on the theme of “Motorcycles”.
Daimler’s vision becomes reality
After the riding car, progress was rapid: the Daimler motor carriage, the first four-wheeled automobile in history, made its début in mid-1886. Shortly before that, in January, Carl Benz patented his three-wheeled motor car. The two automobile pioneers Benz and Daimler worked independently and without meeting in person. In 1886, Gottlieb Daimler also presented his motorboat, followed in 1888 by the world’s first powered flight with Dr Friedrich Hermann Wölfert’s airship, which was propelled by a Daimler engine. Gottlieb Daimler’s vision of mobility on land, at sea and in the air thus became a reality.
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) was founded in 1890. It was one of the predecessor companies of today’s Mercedes-Benz Group. In 1893, the cosmopolitan Gottlieb Daimler presented a modified version of the “steel-wheeled car” at the World Fair in Chicago, the first publicly presented and operational automobile in North America. In the years that followed, he continued to promote the use of his invention and thus individual mobility in France and England, among other countries – and of course also in Germany.
Daimler has to overcome resistance again and again – from the early skepticism about automobiles in Germany to the tough disputes with the shareholders of DMG. Ultimately, he prevails with his visionary spirit. But these challenges took their toll on Daimler’s health. From the 1880s onwards, he suffered from heart problems, from which the automotive pioneer died relatively young.
