Children in Wuppertal did not always have the opportunity to learn as much as they do at the Junior University nowadays.

By the middle of the 19th century and as a result of all the machinery in the factories, Wuppertal had become one of the first and largest industrial centres in the German Reich.

In those days the rapidly expanding twin towns of Barmen and Elberfeld had a larger population than Düsseldorf or Frankfurt. People had to put up with this racket, often slaving away 18 hours a day, seven days a week. Children and adults alike.