The car as a symbol of freedom in the 20th century

Shortly after its invention, the car became more or less synonymous with freedom and turned into one of the great symbols of 20th-century liberty.

The car afforded sovereignty over destination, time and space. That experience explains its symbolism in terms of freedom. The horse provided a similar kind of independence up until the beginning of the 20th century, but it had some major limitations.

In particular, people appreciated the new value of automotive freedom when they travelled. Camping in particular, and the nascent autobahn network, made the car a recreational vehicle. (The great age of charter flights to the South was not to begin until the early 1970s.)

The car as a symbol of freedom made it important for women – with their aspiration to equality of status – to take the wheel too.

With the democratisation of the car, and with mass mobility, this freedom began to shape the Federal Republic and western societies.

Automobility began to give the free society an identity. Mobility was no longer the privilege of the wealthy or, as in the Eastern bloc after 1945, that of party and government agencies.

Independence, spontaneity, the freedom to travel where, when and with whom one wished – until today, that individual mobility has shaped our awareness of life in democratic societies. It is paralleled by a diverse, indeed totally different kind of automotive locomotion.