In the second half of the 19th century, specifically in 1882, in Stuttgart, the brothers Eugen and Karl founded Erhardt & Co GmbH. Around this time, the company established itself in Bilbao, Santander, Cologne, and Rotterdam with an initial capital of 100,000 pesetas. Eugen settled permanently in Bilbao, where his four children were born. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Port of Bilbao was one of the busiest in Europe, and Erhardt entered shipping activities that connected regular traffic with Northern Europe and South America.
Erhardt managed ships that sailed to Northern Europe loaded with iron ore and those returning to Bilbao with processed steel products—railway rails, pipes, and more. Many of these products were manufactured at Krupp’s own steelworks. Erhardt marketed and sold them as the company’s representative.
World War I (1914–1918) had a significant impact on the development the company had begun in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.