We all know Mercedes-Benz as a
premium range of luxury cars. The famous Three-pointed Logo is a mark of a
prized possession for many people around the world. With over 120years of
Luxury Auto making, the brand also has quite a rich history. Behind its name is
the interesting yet tragic story of a woman. She wasn’t the founder or owner of
the company. So, who was she? Here’s her story.
In 1889, Emil Jellinek and his wife chose an elegant and awe-inspiring name for their first baby daughter- “Mercedes”. Her name, Mercedes, means “Favor”, “kindness”, “mercy”, or “pardon” in Spanish.
Emil was a superstitious man and he believed that the name would bring good
fortune to his family. He was a businessman and car racer. He was always
fascinated by the automobile industry and one of his ventures was selling cars.
In 1896, he visited the factory
of Gottlieb Daimler and placed an order for one of the Daimler cars. Jellinek
took a liking to Daimler and decided to start selling their cars.
In 1900, Jellinek commissioned
Daimler to develop and manufacture a new high-powered sports car. Jellinek took
delivery of the car and began racing in several events at the French Riviera
and won many of them. He used the Moniker “Monsieur Mercedes”, which was visibly
written on all his cars’ chassis. It became his personal alias and he became well-known
for it in the region. Within a year, Jellinek sold more than 30 automobiles –
it would sound like nothing in this era, but it was a great achievement at that
time. With time, Jellinek pushed Daimler to manufacture lighter and faster
vehicles. He said, “ I don’t want a car today or tomorrow, it will be the car
of the day after tomorrow.”
The improved model would be
called “Daimler-Mercedes”, as Jellinek insisted that he wanted the cars to be
named after his daughter. The Daimler chairman readily agreed to his name, as
it solved their problem of the Daimler name in France already being owned by
another company.
In 1901, Daimler launched the new
Mercedes 35 Hp. It was heralded for its elegant design and engineering
breakthroughs. When Jellinek won the Nice races, the director of the French
automobile club famously stated: “We have entered the Mercedes era”. This statement
was upheld and echoed by many Newspapers worldwide.
The rest is history. Daimler
trademarked Mercedes and began using it as an umbrella brand for all its
vehicles. The signature 3-pointed star Logo adopted in 1909. In 1903, Jellinek
legally changed his name to “Jellinek-Mercedes”. Sadly, the girl behind the name
didn’t really get that luck for herself. She was just 11 years old at that
time. Just before World War1 broke out, the Australian Government changed
Jellinek for taxes on his French properties. In 1914, the family moved to
France, but there, Jellinek was accused of Espionage for Germany. At the same
time, the Australians suspected his wife for the same reason. All his French
properties were forfeited and the family had to move to Geneva. He passed away in
1918, at the age of 64. His daughter Mercedes got married twice. She had a magnificent
wedding in Nice in 1909, to a wealthy man. The couple had two children and lived
happily in Vienna until World War1 ruined them. 
In 1918, Mercedes had to beg for
food from her neighbors and sometimes, on the streets. A little later, she left
her husband and children. She then got married to a talented but poor sculptor.
She played music and had a good soprano voice but never shared her father’s
passion for Automobiles. In 1929, Mercedes passed away at the age of 39. She was
buried in Vienna next to her grandfather Adolf Jellinek.
In 1926, the Daimler company
merged with the Benz company. Although the company traded as Daimler-Benz, it
gave the name “Mercedes-Benz” to its cars to preserve the respected “Mercedes”
Marque. Even today, the luxury cars retain the name and heritage of Mercedes,
after the poor woman who has been thus immortalized. To this day Mercedes-Benz
is the only Automotive brand that bears a Female name, According to the
carmaker.
