Resulting from the development of industrially usable spinning, weaving and finishing machinery in the 19th century, the whole textile industry in Germany developed very positively. This created a high demand of qualified professionals and leading officers in the city of Mönchengladbach and its surrounding which were strongly characterised by this industrial branch.
Therefore, weaving and spinning schools developed in Mühlheim at the Rhine, Krefeld, Elberfeld and Aachen in the middle of the 19th century.
Also in Mühlheim at the Rhine, today's Cologne-Mühlheim, such a "Höhere Webschule" ("higher weaving school", comparable to an advanced school for weaving) was founded in 1851 in order to make it possible for the workers and employees in the surrounding industries to have a good education. At this point of time many of the weaving mills in the Rhine area processed a lot of linen and half linen, jute or cotton. The demand of skilled workers and employees was high. In addition to the aspiring development in mechanical engineering also the invention of synthetic dyes in 1870 lead to a constantly growing production in the textile industry. Because of the development of dyes fashion got colourful and boosted the fabric production. Thus, the chamber of commerce demanded a higher amount of engineers to meet this demand of the textile industry. The existing schools were uniformly re-organised and expanded by the Prussian State.