Gottlieb Daimler

GOTTLIEB DAIMLER
* 17 March 1834 in Schorndorf; † 6 March 1900 in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt.

Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler revolutionised the world: With his invention of the first high-speed petrol engine and the first four-wheeled motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine, he ushered in a new era in human history.

His developments still determine our daily lives today: Car, motorbike, motorboat, and airship - mobility on land, on water, and in the air.

A Swabian inventor
The Swabian baker's son was born in Schorndorf, where his birthplace can still be seen today. After training as a gunsmith, he began studying mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic School in Stuttgart in 1857. After an international engineering career, Daimler founded an experimental workshop in his garden house in Cannstatt in 1882 to develop engines that could power vehicles of all kinds.

It was here that he and Maybach invented the first high-speed engine in 1883, followed by the stationary single-cylinder engine in 1885. In the same year, they designed the Reitwagen, the first motorbike with a petrol engine. This was followed by a motorboat and finally, in 1886, the first four-wheeled motor car, for which Daimler and Maybach built an engine into a carriage. Later, Daimler also built engines into a tram, an airship and a truck.

His factory became a global corporation: in 1926 Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Carl Benz's company Benz & Cie. merged to form Daimler-Benz AG, today's Daimler AG.