The invention describes an electrical machine having an armature with armature slots for accommodating armature coils. At least one armature coil is formed from two coil elements which are arranged symmetrically with respect to one another in relation to an axis of symmetry, which runs through the center-point of the armature shaft. The coil elements are connected to two adjacent commutator laminates of a commutator. A first brush, a second brush and a third brush bear against the commutator in a manner such that they can slide. The second brush interacts with the first brush or the third brush. The third brush is arranged in relation to the two coil elements in such a way that, when the two adjacent commutator laminates come into contact with one another, the third brush and the center-point of the armature shaft form an axis which has an angle of 90 DEG−(180 DEG/number of laminates)−(180 DEG/3×number of laminates) up to 90 DEG+(180 DEG/number of laminates)+(180 DEG/3×number of laminates) in relation to the axis of symmetry of the two coil elements.