---
title: "Which came first, the car or Germany?"
description: "the car vs Germany: Germany came first, by 15 years — 1871 against 1886. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/car-vs-germany/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, the car or Germany?

**Which came first, the car or Germany?: Germany**

1871 — 15 years before the car

Germany came first, by 15 years. The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles.

## Side by side

|  | the car | Germany |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1886 | 1871 |
| Date | 1886-01-29 | 1871-01-18 |
| Category | invention | country |
| What happened | Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen. | The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles. |

## the car

Benz's patent of 29 January 1886 is the usual date for the first practical petrol car. The vehicle's commercial breakthrough came from his wife: in 1888 Bertha Benz drove 106 km to Pforzheim without telling him, fixing the fuel line with a hatpin and the ignition with a garter on the way, and the resulting publicity sold the machine. Ford did not exist until 1903 and the Model T not until 1908.

## Germany

Germany as a unified state dates from 1871, which makes it younger than the United States, Canada, Italy and the bicycle. It then ceased to exist as a single state in 1949 and was reunified on 3 October 1990, so the current Federal Republic in its present borders is younger than the personal computer. Nintendo, founded in 1889, is older than most people's mental image of Germany allows.

## Common questions

### Which came first, the car or Germany?

Germany, by 15 years — 1871 against 1886.

### When did the car start?

1886. Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen.

### When did Germany start?

1871. The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles.

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## Sources

- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Smithsonian Institution (https://naturalhistory.si.edu/)
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]