The company was founded by Emil Eckardt in 1899 at its present location in Herdecke an der Ruhr as Schaufel- und Spatenfabrik Eckardt & Co. GmbH. After the death of the company founder Emil Eckardt in 1928 and the subsequent insolvency in 1929 a group of enterpreneurs including Dr. Otto Thomashoff, father of the long-time sole director Carl-August Thomashoff, took over the company which was renamed "Idealspaten - und Schaufelwalzwerk vorm. Eckardt & Co. GmbH". The company's main product, the IDEAL spade which is conically rolled from one piece, has been part of the company name since 1929.
The worldwide increase in demand for construction tools led to a very positive development for the company in the following decades, which lasted until the 1960s. The merger with the company A. Bredt & Co. in Witten in 1971 was already a consequence of the emerging development towards the replacement of muscle power by machines.
Both locations were united in Herdecke under the current company name IDEALSPATEN-BREDT GmbH & Co. KG. Since then, the company has changed a lot, adapting to the needs of the markets with their individual requirements.
Today IDEALSPATEN offers a wide range of garden and construction tools in different quality levels. As the only industrial manufacturer of shovels and spades in Germany, the company relies on a mix of manufacture and maximized automation in production. This combination, coupled with the will to maintain "Made in Germany" as a medium-sized manufacturer of garden and construction tools, is the desire of the current fourth generation of shareholders.
