Bertha Takes a Drive: How the Benz Automobile Changed the World
This book and the love of our little family in Gainesville is for our marvelous new member Gloria Zinnia Burger
Bertha Benz woke her two oldest children with a soft nudge She put a finger to her lips Quiet she whispered All three tiptoed down the stairs in their socks They put on their shoes and stepped into Papa’s shop
In the cool August morning Bertha Richard and Eugen pushed a strange machine out of the shop and into the alley They were sneaking away with Papa’s invention the Benz Motorwagen Richard began to giggle Hush Bertha whispered The policemen out front will hear you Germany’s emperor Wilhelm II had declared the Motorwagen illegal and posted two officers outside the Benzes home The government couldn’t imagine what would happen if people could get up and go wherever they wanted whenever they wanted Church officials were not happy with the invention either It was too new and too loud They called it der Teufelwagen the Devil’s Wagon
