Jews first came to Łódź in large numbers during the 1830s, attracted by the opportunities offerd to all classes of people in this thriving city. By the 1840s 21 per cent of the city’s population was Jewish. After 1862, when new laws gave Jews greater freedom in where they could live and what they could do, a wave of Jewish migration poured into Łódź. More and more Jews entered industry and constructed factories. The most powerful Jewish factory owner was the Poznański family, who built the Manufaktura Empire. The family owned not just that immense industrial complex, but several palaces around the city too. Those palaces, majestic architectural gems every one, now house the Museum of City of the Łódź, the Music Academy, and the Museum of Art.