The Ore Mountains in eastern Germany have extensive forest deposits in addition to the ore that gave it its name. These were the basis for the production of wooden toys, which were made in the long and hard winters in home work.
Wooden toys from the Ore Mountains dominated the toy market in large parts of Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This supremacy was based not least on an exploitative publishing system with home and child labor. The profits went almost exclusively to the dealers, while the home workers had to be content with minimal wages. This made this region one of the poorest areas in Germany at the end of the 19th and in the first half of the 20th century.