In 1885, the Finnish pedagogue Fredrika Wetterhoff (1844-1905) founded a sewing and weaving school to provide vocational education and training for rural and working-class girls. The school was named after her and teacher training at the Wetterhoff Craft School began a few years later. The reputation of the school soon spread even outside Finland and the school welcomed students from many European countries. Teaching at the Wetterhoff school relied on state-of-the-art technology. Fredrika wanted to ensure the future of her school and established a foundation to manage the school. In her will, she left the school building, which she owned, as well as all its contents to the foundation. Throughout its history, the Wetterhoff school has followed Fredrika's progressive views. Today, the education and training provided at Wetterhoff form part of the relevant cultural studies degree programmes at Häme Polytechnic and Tavastia Further Education College.