In 1885 the German dye industry was in a severe economic crisis. This was mainly due to fluctuations in the prices of the raw materials used for the production of synthetic dyes. In the early 1880s the prices of benzene and aniline had risen sharply. Cheap dyes were sold at a loss and hardly any new dyes were marketed at that time. Even with synthetic Alizarin, the dye factories could no longer earn money and, last but not least, the 1881 Alizarin Convention between the big German dye factories BASF, Farbwerke ML&B and Bayer collapsed in August 1885. As an example, the Bayer dye factory in the Ruhr Valley could not pay a dividend and for the first time since the firm was set up in 1863, the number of workers had to be reduced. By November 1885, matters had become so bad for Bayer that the Berlin financial newspaper Allgemeine Börsen-Zeitung forecast the company’s imminent doom and advised investors to sell their shares of Bayer stock. Surprisingly, one German dye firm was exceptionally successful in this period: AGFA in Berlin was still making profits by exporting their synthetic organic dye Congo red to the textile manufacturers, first in Europe and later to India and the Far East. Congo red was such a major success that the other German dye companies soon found themselves unable to compete and some competitors had to close their doors. A little later, Bayer achieved a great success with the substantive dye Benzopurpurine 4B and became a dangerous competitor for Congo red. AGFA filed opposition against the Benzopurpurine patent with the result that this patent became an addition to AGFA´s Congo red patent. Both firms agreed on a cross-licensing arrangement, forming a cartel known as the Benzopurpurine Convention. Further research by Bayer and AGFA led to substantive dyes in different colours, such as blue, rubine, orange, brown and violet.