Karl Benz
Born	(1844-11-25)November 25, 1844 Mühlburg (Karlsruhe)
Died	April 4, 1929(1929-04-04) (aged 84) Ladenburg
Nationality	German
Education	University of Karlsruhe
Spouse	Bertha Ringer
Children	5, Eugen, Richard, Clara, Ellen, Thilde
Parents	Johann George Benz (father), Josephine Vaillant (mother)
Work
Significant projects	founded Mercedes-Benz
Significant design	Benz Patent Motorwagen
Significant advance	gasoline-powered automobile

 Karl Friedrich Benz (help·info) (November 25, 1844 – April 4, 1929) was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. Other German contemporaries, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach working as partners, also worked on similar types of inventions, without knowledge of the work of the other, but Benz patented his work first, and, subsequently patented all the processes that made the internal combustion engine feasible for use in an automobile. In 1879 his first engine patent was granted to him and in 1886 Benz was granted a patent for his first automobile.

Early life[link]

Karl Benz was born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant, in Karlsruhe, Baden, which is part of modern Germany, to Josephine Vaillant and a locomotive driver, Johann George Benz, whom she married a few months later.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} When he was two years old, his father was killed in a railway accident, and his name was changed to Karl Friedrich Benz in remembrance of his father.^[6]

Despite living in near poverty, his mother strove to give him a good education. Benz attended the local Grammar School in Karlsruhe and was a prodigious student. In 1853, at the age of nine he started at the scientifically oriented Lyceum. Next he studied at the Poly-Technical University under the instruction of Ferdinand Redtenbacher.

Karl Benz, 1869, 25 years old (Zenodot Verlagsges. mbH)

Benz had originally focused his studies on locksmithing, but eventually followed his father's steps toward locomotive engineering. On September 30, 1860, at age fifteen, he passed the entrance exam for mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe, which he subsequently attended. Benz was graduated July 9, 1864 at nineteen.

During these years, while riding his bicycle, he started to envision concepts for a vehicle that would eventually become the horseless carriage.

Following his formal education, Benz had seven years of professional training in several companies, but did not fit well in any of them. The training started in Karlsruhe with two years of varied jobs in a mechanical engineering company.

He then moved to Mannheim to work as a draftsman and designer in a scales factory. In 1868 he went to Pforzheim to work for a bridge building company Gebrüder Benckiser Eisenwerke und Maschinenfabrik. Finally, he went to Vienna for a short period to work at an iron construction company.

Benz's first factory and early inventions (1871–1882)[link]

In 1871, at the age of twenty-seven, Karl Benz joined August Ritter in launching the Iron Foundry and Mechanical Workshop in Mannheim, later renamed Factory for Machines for Sheet-metal Working.^[7]

The enterprise's first year went very badly. Ritter turned out to be unreliable, and the business's tools were impounded. The difficulty was overcome when Benz's fiancée, Bertha Ringer, bought out Ritter's share in the company using her dowry.^[7][8]

On July 20, 1872 Karl Benz and Bertha Ringer married. They had five children: Eugen (1873), Richard (1874), Clara (1877), Thilde (1882), and Ellen (1890).

Despite such business misfortunes, Karl Benz led in the development of new engines in the early factory he and his wife owned. To get more revenues, in 1878 he began to work on new patents. First, he concentrated all his efforts on creating a reliable gas two-stroke engine. Benz finished his two-stroke engine on December 31, 1878, New Year's Eve, and was granted a patent for it in 1879.

Karl Benz showed his real genius, however, through his successive inventions registered while designing what would become the production standard for his two-stroke engine. Benz soon patented the speed regulation system, the ignition using white power sparks with battery, the spark plug, the carburetor, the clutch, the gear shift, and the water radiator.

Benz's Gasmotoren-Fabrik Mannheim (1882–1883)[link]

Problems arose again when the banks at Mannheim demanded that Bertha and Karl Benz's enterprise be incorporated due to the high production costs it maintained. The Benzes were forced to improvise an association with photographer Emil Bühler and his brother (a cheese merchant), in order to get additional bank support. The company became the joint-stock company Gasmotoren Fabrik Mannheim in 1882.

After all the necessary incorporation agreements, Benz was unhappy because he was left with merely five percent of the shares and a modest position as director. Worst of all, his ideas weren't considered when designing new products, so he withdrew from that corporation just one year later, in 1883.

Benz & Cie. and the Motorwagen[link]

Official signpost of Bertha Benz Memorial Route, commemorating the world's first long distance journey with a Benz Patent-Motorwagen Number 3 in 1888

Benz's lifelong hobby brought him to a bicycle repair shop in Mannheim owned by Max Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm Eßlinger. In 1883, the three founded a new company producing industrial machines: Benz & Company Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik, usually referred to as, Benz & Cie. Quickly growing to twenty-five employees, it soon began to produce static gas engines as well.

The success of the company gave Benz the opportunity to indulge in his old passion of designing a horseless carriage. Based on his experience with, and fondness for, bicycles, he used similar technology when he created an automobile. It featured wire wheels (unlike carriages' wooden ones) ^[9] with a four-stroke engine of his own design between the rear wheels, with a very advanced coil ignition ^[10] and evaporative cooling rather than a radiator.^[10] Power was transmitted by means of two roller chains to the rear axle. Karl Benz finished his creation in 1885 and named it the Benz Patent Motorwagen.

It was the first automobile entirely designed as such to generate its own power, not simply a motorized-stage coach or horse carriage, which is why Karl Benz was granted his patent and is regarded as its inventor.

The Motorwagen was patented on January 29, 1886 as DRP-37435: "automobile fueled by gas".^[11] The 1885 version was difficult to control, leading to a collision with a wall during a public demonstration. The first successful tests on public roads were carried out in the early summer of 1886. The next year Benz created the Motorwagen Model 2, which had several modifications, and in 1887, the definitive Model 3 with wooden wheels was introduced, showing at the Paris Expo the same year.^[10]

Benz began to sell the vehicle (advertising it as the Benz Patent Motorwagen) in the late summer of 1888, making it the first commercially available automobile in history. The second customer of the Motorwagen was a Parisian bicycle manufacturer ^[10] Emile Roger who had already been building Benz engines under license from Karl Benz for several years. Roger added the Benz automobiles (many built in France) to the line he carried in Paris and initially most were sold there.

Replica of the Benz Patent Motorwagen built in 1885

Engine of the Benz Patent Motorwagen

Early customers could only buy gasoline from pharmacies that sold small quantities as a cleaning product. The early 1888 version of the Motorwagen had no gears and could not climb hills unaided. This limitation was rectified after Bertha Benz made her famous trip driving one of the vehicles a great distance and suggested to her husband the addition of another gear.

An important part in the Benz story is this first long distance automobile trip, where entrepreneurial Bertha Benz, supposedly without the knowledge of her husband, on the morning of August 5, 1888, took this vehicle on a 106 km (66 mi) trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim to visit her mother, taking her sons Eugen and Richard with her. In addition to having to locate pharmacies on the way to fuel up, she repaired various technical and mechanical problems and invented brake lining. After some longer downhill slopes she ordered a shoemaker to nail leather on the brake blocks. Bertha Benz and sons finally arrived at nightfall, announcing the achievement to Karl by telegram. It had been her intention to demonstrate the feasibility of using the Benz Motorwagen for travel and to generate publicity in the manner now referred to as live marketing. Today the event is celebrated every two years in Germany with an antique automobile rally. In 2008 Bertha Benz Memorial Route^[12] was officially approved as a route of industrial heritage of mankind, because it follows Bertha Benz's tracks of the world's first long-distance journey by automobile in 1888. Now everybody can follow the 194 km of signposted route from Mannheim via Heidelberg to Pforzheim (Black Forest) and back.

Benz's Model 3 made its wide-scale debut to the world in the 1889 World's Fair in Paris; about twenty-five Motorwagens were built between 1886 and 1893.

Benz & Cie. expansion[link]

Karl Benz introduced the Velo in 1894, becoming the first production automobile

Bertha Benz with her husband Karl Benz in a Benz Viktoria, model 1894

First internal combustion engined bus in history: a Benz truck modified by Netphener company (1895)

Benz "Velo" model presentation in London 1898

The great demand for stationary, static internal combustion engines forced Karl Benz to enlarge the factory in Mannheim, and in 1886 a new building located on Waldhofstrasse (operating until 1908) was added. Benz & Cie. had grown in the interim from 50 employees in 1889 to 430 in 1899.

During the last years of the nineteenth century, Benz was the largest automobile company in the world with 572 units produced in 1899.

Because of its size, in 1899, Benz & Cie. became a joint-stock company with the arrival of Friedrich von Fischer and Julius Ganß, who came aboard as members of the Board of Management. Ganß worked in the commercialization department, which is somewhat similar to marketing in contemporary corporations.

The new directors recommended that Benz should create a less expensive automobile suitable for mass production. In 1893, Karl Benz created the Victoria, a two-passenger automobile with a 2.2 kW (3.0 hp) engine, which could reach the top speed of 18 km/h (11 mph) and had a pivotal front axle operated by a roller-chained tiller for steering. The model was successful with 85 units sold in 1893.

The Benz Velo also participated in the first automobile race, the 1894 Paris to Rouen Rally.

In 1895, Benz designed the first truck in history, with some of the units later modified by the first motor bus company: the Netphener, becoming the first motor buses in history.

In 1896, Karl Benz was granted a patent for his design of the first flat engine. It had horizontally opposed pistons, a design in which the corresponding pistons reach top dead centre simultaneously, thus balancing each other with respect to momentum. Flat engines with four or fewer cylinders are most commonly called boxer engines, boxermotor in German, and also are known as horizontally opposed engines. This design is still used by Porsche, Subaru, and some high performance engines used in racing cars. In motorcycles, the most famous boxer engine is found in BMW motorcycles,^{[citation needed]} though the boxer engine design was used in many other models, including Zundapp, Wooler, Douglas Dragonfly, Ratier, Universal, IMZ-Ural, Dnepr, Gnome et Rhône, Chang Jiang, Marusho, and the Honda Gold Wing.

Although Gottlieb Daimler died in March 1900—and there is no evidence that Benz and Daimler knew each other nor that they knew about each other's early achievements—eventually, competition with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) in Stuttgart began to challenge the leadership of Benz & Cie. In October 1900 the main designer of DMG, Wilhelm Maybach, built the engine that would be used later, in the Mercedes-35hp of 1902. The engine was built to the specifications of Emil Jellinek under a contract for him to purchase thirty-six vehicles with the engine and for him to become a dealer of the special series. Jellinek stipulated the new engine be named Daimler-Mercedes (for his daughter). Maybach would quit DMG in 1907, but he designed the model and all of the important changes. After testing, the first was delivered to Jellinek on December 22, 1900. Jellinek continued to make suggestions for changes to the model and obtained good results racing the automobile in the next few years, encouraging DMG to engage in commercial production of automobiles, which they did in 1902.

Logo with laurels used on Benz & Cie automobiles after 1909

Benz countered with Parsifil, introduced in 1903 with a vertical twin engine that achieved a top speed of 37 mph (60 km/h). Then, without consulting Benz, the other directors hired some French designers. France was a country with an extensive automobile industry based on Maybach's creations. Because of this action, after difficult discussions, Karl Benz announced his retirement from design management on January 24, 1903, although he remained as director on the Board of Management through its merger with DMG in 1926 and, remained on the board of the new Daimler-Benz corporation until his death in 1929.

Benz's sons Eugen and Richard left Benz & Cie. in 1903, but Richard returned to the company in 1904 as the designer of passenger vehicles.

That year, sales of Benz & Cie. reached 3,480 automobiles, and the company remained the leading manufacturer of automobiles.

Along with continuing as a director of Benz & Cie., Karl Benz would soon found another company, C. Benz Söhnewith (with his son Eugen and closely held within the family), a privately held company for manufacturing automobiles. The brand name used the first initial of the French variant of Benz's first name, "Carl".

Blitzen Benz[link]

1909 Blitzen Benz - built by Benz & Cie., which held the land speed record

In 1909, the Blitzen Benz was built in Mannheim by Benz & Cie. The bird-beaked vehicle had a 21.5-liter (1312ci), 150 kW (200 hp) engine, and on November 9, 1909 in the hands of Victor Hémery of France,^[13] the land speed racer at Brooklands, set a record of 226.91 km/h (141.94 mph), said to be "faster than any plane, train, or automobile" at the time, a record that was not exceeded for ten years by any other vehicle. It was transported to several countries, including the United States, to establish multiple records of this achievement.

Benz Söhne (1906–1923)[link]

Karl and Bertha Benz c. 1914 (collection of Zenodot Verlagsgesellschaft mbH)

Karl Benz, Bertha Benz, and their son, Eugen, moved 10 km east of Mannheim to live in nearby Ladenburg, and solely with their own capital, founded the private company, C. Benz Sons (German: Benz Söhne) in 1906, producing automobiles and gas engines. The latter type was replaced by petrol engines because lack of demand.

Logo on family held business production vehicles

This company never issued stocks publicly, building its own line of automobiles independently from Benz & Cie., which was located in Mannheim. The Benz Sons automobiles were of good quality and became popular in London as taxis.

In 1912, Karl Benz liquidated all of his shares in Benz Sons and left the family-held company in Ladenburg to Eugen and Richard, but he remained as a director of Benz & Cie.

During a birthday celebration for him in his home town of Karlsruhe on November 25, 1914, the seventy-year-old Karl Benz was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the Karlsruhe University, thereby becoming—Dr. Ing. h. c. Karl Benz.

1923 Benz "Teardrop" aerodynamic racecar

Almost from the very beginning of the production of automobiles, participation in sports car racing became a major method to gain publicity for manufacturers. At first, the production models were raced and the Benz Velo participated in the first automobile race: Paris to Rouen 1894. Later, investment in developing racecars for motorsports produced returns through sales generated by the association of the name of the automobile with the winners. Unique race vehicles were built at the time, as seen in the photograph here of the Benz, the first mid-engine and aerodynamically designed, Tropfenwagen, a "teardrop" body introduced at the 1923 European Grand Prix at Monza.

In the last production year of the Benz Sons company, 1923, three hundred and fifty units were built. During the following year, 1924, Karl Benz built two additional 8/25 hp units of the automobile manufactured by this company, tailored for his personal use, which he never sold; they are still preserved.

[edit] Toward Daimler-Benz and the first Mercedes-Benz in 1926

Last home of Karl and Bertha Benz, now the location of the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation in Ladenburg, in Baden-Württemberg

The German economic crisis worsened. In 1923 Benz & Cie. produced only 1,382 units in Mannheim, and DMG made only 1,020 in Stuttgart. The average cost of an automobile was 25 million marks because of rapid inflation. Negotiations between the two companies resumed and in 1924 they signed an "Agreement of Mutual Interest" valid until the year 2000. Both enterprises standardized design, production, purchasing, sales, and advertising—marketing their automobile models jointly—although keeping their respective brands.

On June 28, 1926, Benz & Cie. and DMG finally merged as the Daimler-Benz company, baptizing all of its automobiles, Mercedes Benz, honoring the most important model of the DMG automobiles, the 1902 Mercedes 35 hp, along with the Benz name. The name of that DMG model had been selected after ten-year-old Mercédès Jellinek, the daughter of Emil Jellinek who had set the specifications for the new model. Between 1900 and 1909 he was a member of DMG's board of management and long before the merger Jellinek had resigned.

Karl Benz was a member of the new Daimler Benz board of management for the remainder of his life. A new logo was created, consisting of a three pointed star (representing Daimler's motto: "engines for land, air, and water") surrounded by traditional laurels from the Benz logo, and the brand of all of its automobiles was labeled Mercedes Benz. Model names would follow the brand name in the same convention as today.

The next year, 1927, the number of units sold tripled to 7,918 and the diesel line was launched for truck production. In 1928 the Mercedes-Benz SSK was presented.

On April 4, 1929, Karl Benz died at home in Ladenburg at the age of eighty-four from a bronchial inflammation. Until her death on May 5, 1944, Bertha Benz continued to reside in their last home. Members of the family resided in the home for thirty more years. The Benz home now has been designated as historic and is used as a scientific meeting facility for a nonprofit foundation, the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation, that honors both Bertha and Karl Benz for their roles in the history of automobiles.

In popular culture[link]

In 2011 a dramatized television movie about the life of Karl and Bertha Benz was made named Carl & Bertha which premiered on 11 May^[14] and was aired by Das Erste on 23 May.^[15][16] A trailer of the movie^[17] and a "making of" special were released on YouTube.^[18]

See also[link]

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen Number 3 of 1888, used by Bertha Benz for the first long distance journey by automobile (more than 106 km or sixty miles)

An official license to operate the Benz Patent Motorwagen on the public roads was issued by Großherzoglich Badisches Bezirksamt on August 1, 1888

• Benz (unit)
• Bertha Benz, his wife and automotive pioneer
• Bertha Benz Memorial Route
• German inventors and discoverers
• History of the internal combustion engine

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Benz, Carl (2001). Lebensfahrt eines deutschen Erfinders : meine Erinnerungen / Karl Benz. München: Koehler und Amelang. ISBN 3-7338-0302-7.  (German) (autobiography)[1]

The life of a German inventor: my memories / Karl Benz

• Benz, Carl Friedrich (c1925). Lebensfahrt eines deutschen erfinders; erinnerungen eines achtzigjahrigen. Leipzig: Koehler & Amelang.  (German) (first edition) (bibrec)

The life of a German inventor; memories of an octogenarian

• Elis, Angela: Mein Traum ist länger als die Nacht. Wie Bertha Benz ihren Mann zu Weltruhm fuhr. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-455-50146-9

My dream is longer than the night. How Bertha Benz drove her husband to worldwide fame

• Mercedes-Benz AG (Hrsg.), Benz & Cie.: Zum 150. Geburtstag von Karl Benz, Motorbuch Verlag: Stuttgart, 1994 1. Aufl. 296 S., 492 Abb., 124 in Farbe, ISBN 3-613-01643-5, (German) (biography)

Benz & Cie.: On the Occasion of the 150th Birthday of Karl Benz

• Seherr-Thoss, Hans Christoph, Graf von (1988). Zwei Männer - ein Stern : Gottlieb Daimler und Karl Benz in Bildern, Daten und Dokumenten. Düsseldorf: VDI-Verlag. ISBN 3-18-400851-7.  (German) [2]

Two men - one star: Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz in pictures, data and documents

• Seidel, Winfried A. (2005). Carl Benz : eine badische Geschichte ; die Vision vom "pferdelosen Wagen" verändert die Welt. Weinheim: Ed. Diesbach. ISBN 3-936468-29-X.  (German) (biography) Image of cover. (German) [3]

Carl Benz: a Baden history; the vision of the "horseless car" changes the world

• Siebertz, Paul (1950). Karl Benz : Ein Pionier der Motorisierung. Stuttgart: Reclam.  (German) [4]

Karl Benz : A pioneer of motorization

External links[link]

• Brief biographies of Karl Benz and Bertha Benz, with portraits, an extensive archive, and detailed histories presented at the Mercedes-Benz Museum.[5]
• Mercedes-Benz corporate archives [6], company archives [7], history [8], media management archives [9], and publications [10]
• copies of the honorary doctorate and Baden State medal in gold, both awarded to Karl Benz in his lifetime.
• Das Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz in der alten Benz Fabrik (German) is the Dr. Carl Benz Auto Museum created by a private group in 1996 [11] in a former Benz factory for an ancillary business founded with his sons in Ladenburg, which was separate from his major companies. The company opened in 1906 and closed in 1923, the site has a description of this museum and contemporary photographs [12] with "C. Benz SÖHNE KG" painted on the building, which contains historical photographs, some restored automobiles, and a chronology of the life of Karl Benz
• Karl Benz on 3-wheelers.com
• Bertha Benz Memorial Route
• Prof. John H. Lienhard on BERTHA Benz's RIDE
• The Karl Benz family grave site in Ladenburg The urn contains the ashes of their son, Richard Benz, and the inscription on the gravestone reads:[13]

Dr. Ing. h. c. Karl Benz

Geb. 26. Nov. 1844

Gest. 4. April 1929

Bertha Benz

Geb. Ringer

Geb. 3. Mai 1849

Gest. 4. Mai 1944

• The Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation founded in 1986 at the last residence of Bertha and Karl Benz in Ladenburg.

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Edyta Bartosiewicz
Background information
Birth name	Edyta Małgorzata Bartosiewicz
Also known as	Edzia, Eddie
Born	(1965-01-11) January 11, 1965 (age 47)
Origin	Warsaw, Poland
Genres	pop rock, rock
Occupations	Composer, songwriter, singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1990–2002, 2004, 2010-
Website	www.edytabartosiewicz.pl

Edyta Bartosiewicz (born January 11, 1965 in Warsaw^[1]) is a Polish rock singer, composer and songwriter. Her career has been awarded by five Fryderyks. In Poland, she's known for her highly reflective and unusual lyrics.

Biography[link]

Early career[link]

When Edyta Bartosiewicz was ten years old she already learned how to play the guitar, which she received from her father for good grades. She composed simple lyrics, usually, with English texts, which were full of errors as she honestly admitted. Edyta Bartosiewicz once thought that music was restricted only for chosen people and she was convinced that she was not one of them. Soon she studied at Nicolaus Copernicus High School in Warsaw (XXXIII L.O. im. Mikołaja Kopernika). At that time, Bartosiewicz did not consider that her future career will be related to music and, what is interesting, she devoted herself to sport (firstly, she practiced speed skating and, then, volleyball for ten years). After graduating from high school, she began studying at SGPiS in Warsaw (now SGH, Warsaw School of Economics.)

By then, she already tried to make her dream about music career come true. This is why she started her first amateur band in Mińsk Mazowiecki. She tried to reconcile her affection to music with school duties. Unluckily, the band did not live up to her expectations. After ignoring suggestions from Walter Chełstowski that she should start professional recordings, she decided to leave for London in 1986. There, Bartosiewicz met The Blue Aeroplanes and during their concerts she participated in, she realized that music is an indispensable part of her life. She immediately met people, who agreed to gather funds for her first professional album recording. This is why, after six months she came back to Warsaw.

First recordings[link]

It was a breakthrough in her music career. After four years at the university, she dropped out and joined the Staff group. In 1989 she won Mokotowska Jesień Muzyczna. In the following year, she appeared on a first commercial music record with the band Halloee Poloy (formerly the Staff group.) The album was released under the title The Big Beat. It was hardly a commercial success, but it succeeded in catching the eye of music critics who noticed the singer’s voice and charismatic position in the band. She received prestigious awards i.e. Wyspiański Young Artist Award and Mateusz Święcicki Award (Nagroda Artystyczna Młodych im. Wyspiańskiego and Nagroda im. Mateusza Święcickiego.) What is more, Bartosiewicz collaborated with such famous rock musicians as Wojciech Waglewski, Ziyo (1992 – singing in the album “Carols”; “Kolędy”), Róże Europy (1993 – backing vocals in song “Velvet”; “Jedwab”), Acid Drinkers (1993 - singing “Seek and Destroy”), Hey (1993 – vocal in 1990s super hit “Your Hope and Mine”; “Moja i twoja nadzieja”), Varius Manx (1993 – singing “Memphis”), Human (1993 - singing “Faith”), Kobranocka (1992, 1994 – backing vocals and singing), which sped up her future music career.

Solo career[link]

Edyta decided to quit the band Halloee Poloy having experienced - as she said herself - very heavy resistance to her composing and song writing style. She wanted to concentrate on her solo career. Even though the album The Big Beat did not turn out to be a commercial success, the music and vocals of charismatic singer attracted the attention of connoisseurs and demanding music listeners. In 1990 Bartosiewicz was declared the best singer by Music Magazine (Magazyn Muzyczny).

At the turn of 1991 and 1992, she started to record the album “Love” in studio S-4 in Warsaw. Rafał Paczkowski was responsible for the production of that album. This time her album was successful. By 2001, sixty seven thousand copies had been sold and finally the album achieved Gold status. The most popular singles from this album were: “If”, “Goodbye to the Roman Candles,” “Blues for you”, “Have to Carry On”. The album was also released in Western Europe by Chrysalis Records but was not noticed in this market at all. As she said herself:

On May 18, 1994, the album “Dream” (Sen) was released by Izabelin Studio. It was recorded with a completely new band i.e. Michał Grymuza (guitars), Radosław Zagajewski (bass), Krzysztof Palczewski (keyboard). Leszek Kamiński ( Bartosiewicz's husband as of 1990) was responsible for the production. This time her new album was sung mostly in Polish unlike the previous one “Love”, sung mostly in English. The music can be described as variable, including acoustic songs as well as hard rock songs such as cover of the song “Move Over” by Janis Joplin. Her songs: “Dream” (Sen), “Capricorn” (Koziorożec), “Tattoo” (Tatuaż), or “Joke at a Zoo” (Żart w zoo) were a huge success on the music charts.

In 1994, at the end of September, nine concerts were given in the nine biggest Polish cities. The tour ended with a huge success, as well as the album, which achieved Platinum status after selling over 300 thousand copies. Bartosiewicz herself was announced the best singer by the readers of the Polish magazine “Only Rock” ("Tylko Rock" - now known as "Teraz Rock" ["Now Rock"]), and the album’s title song “Dream” (“Sen”) is still one of her best known. The singer also received two 1995 Fryderyk Awards in the category: the Best Artist and the Best Pop/Rock Album.

By the beginning of 1995 a new single “Wonderful tonight” was realized. It was a cover of Eric Clapton song and it reached second place on Hit Parade of Program 3 (Polish radio station). At the beginning of July a new single “Madness” (“Szał”) was released and it promoted the album “Shock’n’show (Szok'n'show)”.

In October people could see Edyta perform live in 13 cities. This tour ended in May 1996. The biggest hits are: the promotion single “Madness”, Time of high tide”, “The Clock” (“Zegar”) which was realised on a singel in November, and the greatest, immortal ballade “The Last One” (“Ostatni”). Single “Anger is no use” (“Na nic gniew”) which was realized during summer holidays is also worth remembering. The album “Shock’n’Show” received the platinum status and up to this day more than 280.000 of MC and CD copies have been sold. In 1995 this album won Fryderyk (Polish music award) in the category Rock Album, and was nominated to this price in eight different categories. The readers of music magazines very highly evaluated her work:

• The Best Album Award - readers of “Only Rock” (“Tylko Rock”) plebiscite
• The Best Singer Award - readers of “Only Rock” plebiscite
• Second place in Hit of the year category - readers “Only Rock” plebiscite
• Seventh place for “The Clock”
• Second place in the Best Singer category – readers of “Brum” plebiscite
• The Best Video of the Year Award for “Madness” – readers of “Brum” plebiscite

The video to the song “The Clock” won “Zloty Yacht” in category The Best Video of the Year. A new challenge for Bartosiewicz at the end of 1995 was a music production of an album of the group “Firebirds”.

The year 1996 was as interesting in Bartosiewicz career as the previous one. She played tens of concerts, among which on 9 July she opened Bryan Adams’ concert in Spodek Katowicki. She was a star during “Wegorzewo 1996” (Polish music festival). Edyta’s recital during Sopot Festival was very well received. It was there that she received the Platinum status for her albums “Dream” and “Shock’n’show”. She received a warm reception. The recital lasted about 40 minutes but thanks to enthusiastic reaction of the public it was prolonged about 20 minutes (4 encores). Edyta performed her biggest hits but also presented her two new songs “Only a moment” (“Tylko moment”) and “Think about me” (“Pomyśl o mnie”), which became a single.

In October she started working on her new album, which was recorded in January and February 1997. The premier of Edyta’s fourth album entitled “Child” (“Dziecko”) took place on 9 June, and the single “Jenny” was present in radio stations since 21 April. By September more than 100.000 copies were sold, and this album was in the top ten of bestselling albums of the year. The album was promoted within the tour and a second single “I lied” (“Skłamałam”), which became a big hit. During a concert in “Stodola” (Stodoła) in Warsaw she received another platinum status for the album “Child” (more than 200.000 CD and MC sold). Next singles: ‘We don't know each other” („Nie znamy się”), ‘Boogie czyli zemsta slodka jest’ and the title song “Child” enjoyed quite big popularity. In February Edyta played three concerts in the United States and Canada. In March 1998 Edyta once again won Fryderyk in the category “The Best Rock Album”. Besides that, she was also nominated in five other categories. The album “Child” is thought to be the most frank album of Polish rock and, generally speaking, Polish entertainment music. (Machina 03/02).

In July 1998 Edyta entered the studio to record a new album. This time it was not with Leszek Kaminski but with an English publisher Rafał Mckenna who also worked with artists such as Blur, Pulp, or Radiohead. The first song from this album was “Love like fire” (“Miłość jak ogień”) which immediately won the first place on Polish hit lists. The premier of the album “Waterfalls” (“Wodospady”) took place November 9, 1998. Another single was the title song. The album reviews characterized it as the most mature of all. Songs like “Mandarine” (“Mandarynka”) showed Edyta’s interest in psychedelic music. On the other hand, Edyta did not turn her back on image that was known from her previous albums. Songs like “Love like fire” and “Waterfalls of tears” confirm that. In many reviews it is said that the most distinguished long plays are “Dream”, “Child” and “Waterfalls”. The video to the third single “Seven seas, seven lands” (“Siedem mórz, siedem ladów”) was made in picturesque landscape in the US (precincts of LA^{[disambiguation needed ]}). In May 1999 the last single promoting “Waterfalls”, entitled “The Rebel” (“Buntowniczka”) was realised. Till this day 75, 000 copies have been sold which gave Edyta another golden status title. In 1998 she was nominated to Fryderyk in many categories.

On 29 November 1999 album entitled “Today are my birthday- the best of” (“Dziś są moje urodziny- the best of”) was realized. This was the album that summed up the artistic work of Edyta and it was promoted by the song “21st century” (“XXI wiek”). The album, as Edyta admitted, was forced by denouncement of the contract. At the beginning of the year 2000 a song “Master” (“Mistrz”) was realized and it promoted a medley. She ended the year 1999 separating from her phonographic industry Universal Music Poland.

The year 2000 started with a prestigious award for the Personality of the Decade presented by the “Only Rock” magazine. In February 2000 Edyta collaborated with Justyna Steczkowska. She wrote a number of lyrics for Justyna’s album “Day & Night”. Moreover, she also made a well-matched duet with Kazik Staszewski in the hit-song “Four Rooms”, which promoted Kazik’s album “Melassa”. In the same year she collaborated with Anita Lipnicka. Together they created “The Last Letter” song – Edyta prepared the music and Anita wrote the lyrics. Effect of that collaboration was presented on Anita’s album “My eyes are green” (2000). In January 2001 Edyta, together with the band Agressiva 69, recorded the title song for Mariusz Treliński’s movie “Egoists”.

In January 2001 the song “The Tale” appeared on the subsequent volume of the “Fridays for fives” medley by Radio ZET. The song became a hit. Beginning of 2001 also brought changes to Edyta’s group: drummer Krzysztof Poliński was replaced by Przemek Momot, who worked together, among others, with Kasia Nosowska, Robert Gawliński, groups Yugoton and Women; and bass player Radek Zagajewski was replaced by Michał Grott. In November 2001 Edyta published a re-release of her first solo album “Love”. The album was published in Universal’s series “Invincible”. Bartosiewicz was also asked to write a number of lyrics for Edyta Górniak’s album “The Pearl” (2002). The song “I don't ask for more” became a second single from that album. Edyta is also an author of lyrics for the title song, which was released as a fourth single.

At the beginning of 2002 Edyta signed a contract with BMG Poland and from March 4 she started work on a new album. On June 17 the single “Innocence”, that was supposed to promote the new album, was released. On June 29 the video clip for that song was broadcasted. The new album was supposed to be released in August 2002; however, for unknown reasons and despite the fact that the album was finished release-date had been postponed many times. After some time Edyta and BMG Poland declared the contract null and void, and until the preset day the album has not been released.

In 2004, quite unexpectedly, Edyta performed in a duet with Krzysztof Krawczyk in a song “It’s hard for... (us to be together)”. That song became a second single from Krawczyk’s album “That which is important in life” and achieved a great commercial success on the market, becoming the biggest hit of 2004. In August, Edyta appeared together with Krzysztof Krawczyk during the Sopot music festival. Moreover, Edyta performed during 2004 New Year’s Eve concert organized by TVP (state-owned Polish Television). The year 2004 was extremely successful for Edyta Bartosiewicz. She managed a comeback in media and was on the covers of many popular magazines for a long time.

After a half year break Edyta returned exactly on June 5, 2005 when she performed on Cracowian Main Market Square during the Enchanted Song Festival. Edyta was among such stars as: Anna Maria Jopek, Sylwia Wiśniewska, Urszula, Andrzej Piaseczny, Grzegorz Turnau, Michał Wiśniewski, and Pawel Kukiz. She truly enchanted the crowd with her two hit-songs: “Jenny” and “The Last One”.

In September 2005 Edyta performed during the special 10-years-anniversary concert of Myslovitz; during which she performed the song “I would like to die of love” together with Myslovitz’s frontman, Artur Rojek.

Motivated by huge success of duet with Krzysztof Krawczyk, Edyta returned to work on her new album. She returned to Sony & BMG (formerly BMG Poland) and release of her new album was scheduled for spring 2006. Unfortunately, just when the album was about to be released a tragedy happened. Manager, concerts’ organizer and Edyta’s biggest friend – Jacek Nowakowski, died on March 9. He was only thirty-four. Edyta, lost in grief, cancelled the release of the new album.

On September 2, 2006 Edyta performed during Tomasz Stanko’s concerted called “Tomasz Stańko & Friends”. Here is a fragment from report on the concert:

For over two years from that appearance Edyta did not perform publicly. She finally returned on stage on July 5, 2008 when she appeared during TOPtrendy Festival in Sopot. She performed on the occasion of Krzysztof Krawczyk's 45 years-on-stage benefit concert "Life Is Like a Wine." Together with Krawczyk, she performed two songs: "The Tale" and "It's Hard For... (Us to Be Together)."

Thus far, it has been Edyta's last public performance. In July 2010 it was announced she was set to perform at Orange Warsaw Festival on August 28, 2010.^[2] There are also rumors she is back to studio recording new songs.^[3]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Big Beat (1990)
• Love (1992)
• Sen ("Dream") (1994)
• Szok'n'Show (1995)
• Dziecko ("Child") (1997)
• Wodospady ("Waterfalls") (1998)
• Dziś są moje urodziny ("Today's My Birthday") (1999)
• Tam dokąd zmierzasz ("There, where you're going") (2011)

Album singles[link]

[edit] from Love

• If
• Have To Carry On
• Goodbye To The Roman Candles
• Blues For You

[edit] from Sen

• Sen
• Koziorożec (Capricorn)
• Urodziny (Birthday)
• Żart w zoo (Joke in a Zoo)
• Zabij swój strach (Kill Your Fear)

[edit] from Szok'n'Show

• Szał (Frenzy)
• Zegar (Clock)
• Ostatni (The Last One)
• Na nic gniew (Useless Anger)

[edit] from Dziecko

• Jenny
• Skłamałam (I Lied)
• Nie znamy się (We Don't Know Each Other)
• Boogie, czyli zemsta słodka jest (Boogie - Revenge Is Sweet)
• Dziecko (Child)

[edit] from Wodospady

• Miłość jak ogień (Love Like Fire)
• Wodospady łez (Waterfalls of Tears)
• Siedem mórz, siedem lądów (Seven Seas, Seven Lands)
• Buntowniczka (Rebelliant)

[edit] from Dziś są moje urodziny

• XXI wiek (21st Century)
• Mistrz (Master)

Non-album singles[link]

• Jedwab (Velvet)
• Moja i twoja nadzieja (Mine And Your Hope) (recorded with Hey from their album Fire)
• Goodbye To The Roman Candles (London remix)
• Szepty (Whispers) (recorded with Firebirds)
• Ostatni (transwersja) / Pomyśl o mnie (Think About Me) (outtakes from Szok'n'Show sessions)
• Cztery pokoje (Four Rooms) (recorded with Kazik for his album Melassa in 2000)
• Opowieść (A Story) (promo for a Radio ZET compilation, promo for 2004 movie Nigdy w życiu)
• Egoiści (Egoists) (recorded with Agressiva 69, promoting the movie of the same title)
• Niewinność (Innocence) (promoting the unreleased 2002 album)
• Trudno tak...razem być nam ze sobą (So hard...for us to be together) (promoting Krzysztof Krawczyk's album To, co w życiu ważne)

Selected Awards[link]

• 1990 Mateusz Święcicki Award (Nagroda im. M. Święcickiego)
• 1992 Amber Nightingale Award – Sopot festival
• 1994 Fryderyk Awards – Best Artist and Best Pop/Rock Album^[4]
• 1994 Fryderyk Awards – Best Female Vocalist^[4]
• 1995 Fryderyk Awards – Best Rock Album (also eight other nominations)^[5]
• 1997 Fryderyk Awards – Best Rock Album (and five other nominations)^[6]
• 2004 Fryderyk Awards – Best Song Trudno tak...razem być nam ze sobą (So hard...for us to be together)^[7]