By 1919 the founder’s sons Eugenio and Otto were working in the family business. The eldest son remained in Bilbao, where he took over control of the company and had three children named Mercedes, Eugenio and Alberto. Meanwhile Otto took over the family business in the Netherlands: Erhardt&Dekkers.
From 1920 to 1945 trade in Bilbao went into a downturn. The worldwide economic crash reached Spain in the 1930s and the economy was hit by an industrial agricultural and monetary crisis.
During that period the company extended its activities into the chartering business and also began to act as agents for insurance companies, while also maintaining its role as an agent for Krupp and other firms such as Franz Haniel, etc.
In 1946, the brothers Eugenio and Alberto Erhardt joined the family business, and in 1951 their father, Eugenio Erhardt Lingenbrink, passed away.