The Hagen region first appears in historical records in the Lorsch Annals (Latin: Annales Laureshamenses): In 775, Charlemagne's troops conquered the Saxon Hohensyburg (then called Sigiburg) castle located near the city limits of Dortmund above the Ruhr-Lenne estuary.
Hagen itself was first mentioned around the year 1200, and is presumed to have been the name of a farm at the confluence of the Volme and the Ennepe rivers. After the conquest of Burg Volmarstein [de] in 1324, Hagen passed to the County of Mark. After the Treaty of Xanten in 1614, it was granted to the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which became part of the newly founded Kingdom of Prussia in 1701.
A major fire destroyed a significant part of Hagen's buildings in 1724. With the help of the Prussian state administration, Hagen was rebuilt within a short time.
During the German Empire from 1871 to 1914, Hagen experienced a period of prosperity. Through urbanisation and industrialisation of the 19th century, the city developed into the main centre for the entire region south of the river Ruhr. In 1887, Hagen was administratively separated from the district of Hagen and became an independent city (urban district).
In the years following the turn of the century, the banker and patron Karl Ernst Osthaus brought many later important architects to the city, including Henry van de Velde, Peter Behrens and Walter Gropius. They established Hagen's reputation as a link between Art Nouveau and Modernism (Hagener Impul). The centrepiece of this initiative was the Folkwang Museum and the (only partially built) garden city of Hohenhagen (Gartenstadt Hohenhagen).
In reaction to the Kapp Putsch in March 1920, when rightists tried to overthrow the elected government and restore the monarchy, tens of thousands of leftist workers in the Ruhr Valley, Germany's most important industrial area, rose up in protest. They were known as the Red Ruhr Army.
Memorial to the Ruhr Uprising, Hagen
Thousands of workers went on strike and fought during the Ruhr Uprising, 13 March – 2 April 1920. Government and paramilitary forces were ordered against the workers, suppressing the uprising, and killing an estimated 1,000 workers. A memorial to the uprising was installed in Hagen.
By 1928, Hagen had developed into a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants.[citation needed]
During World War II, Hagen was bombed repeatedly, by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Eighth Air Force. On the night of 1 October 1943, 243 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes from the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command attacked the city. According to the Bomber Command Campaign Diary, "This raid was a complete success achieved on a completely cloud-covered target of small size, with only a moderate bomber effort and at trifling cost."[citation needed] Hagen sustained severe damage from that raid, and hundreds of civilians were killed. After the war, the city centre was almost completely destroyed, so that only the surrounding districts still partially reflect the city's Wilhelminian architectural character.
Owing to the extensive use of water power along the rivers Ruhr, Lenne, Volme and Ennepe, metal processing played an important role in the region of Hagen in and even before the 15th century.[citation needed]
In the 17th and 18th centuries, textile and steel industries, as well as paper production were developed here.[citation needed]
In the early 21st century, Hagen is the home of the Suedwestfaelische Industrie- und Handelskammer, as well as Sparkasse Hagen, the local public savings bank. The bank's former headquarters, the Sparkasse Hagen Tower, was a regional landmark until its demolition in 2004.[citation needed]
The city is heavily indebted and in the process of cutting city services in order to balance its budget.[citation needed]
The city has capitalized on the export of a wide variety of breads, most notably Hagenschmagenbrot, a traditional dark bread.
Education
One of the five branches of South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences is located in the city (also: Fachhochschule Südwestfalen (FH SWF)), which offers various engineering programmes. This institution was founded in the city in 1824.
Attractions
Hagen is home to the LWL-Freilichtmuseum Hagen, or Hagen Westphalian Open-Air Museum, a collection of historic industrial facilities. Trades such as printing, brewing, smithing, milling, and many others are represented, not only with static displays, but as living, working operations that visitors may in some cases participate in. It is located near the Hagen community of Eilpe.
The Historisches Centrum Hagen includes the city museum and Werdringen castle. In the Blätterhöhle cave in Hagen, the oldest fossils of modern people in Westphalia and the Ruhr were found. Some date to the early Mesolithic, 10,700 years B.C.E. It seems that the descendants of Mesolithic people in this area maintained a foraging lifestyle for more than 2000 years after the arrival of farming societies.[9]
Panoramic view of Hagen (taken from urban forest of Hagen)
The current Mayor of Hagen is independent Erik O. Schulz, elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
The Hagen city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
Hagen has been an important rail junction for the southeastern Ruhr valley since the first rail line opened in 1848. The marshalling yard of Hagen-Vorhalle is among Germany's largest, and the central station offers connections to the ICE network of Deutsche Bahn as well as to local and S-Bahn services. Since December 2005, Hagen has also been the starting point for a service into Essen, the Ruhr-Lenne-Express, operated by Abellio Deutschland. Since 2022, it has been operated by DB Regio.
Local traffic is handled by Hagener Straßenbahn (Hagen Tramways), which, despite its name, offers only bus services, as the last tramway route in Hagen was abandoned in May 1976. All in all there is a large-scale network of 36 bus lines in Hagen. All local rail and bus services operate under the transport association VRR.
Sport
The German Basketball Federation (DBB) is based in Hagen.
Sport clubs in Hagen:
TSV Hagen 1860 - largest club (multiple fistball champions)
SSV Hagen, a sport club for football, cycling, jiu-jitsu, weightlifting and jazzdance. The football team plays its home matches in the Ischelandstadion.[11]
Hohenlimburger SV (multiple women water polo champions)
Hagen is also famous of its annual equestrian show 'Horses & Dreams' in April at Hof Kasselmann. It is one of the greatest equestrian shows in Germany and abroad.[12] In 2005 they were the host of the European Dressage Championships after Moscow withdrew. In 2021 Hagen is again host of the 2021 European Dressage Championships for seniors and U25.[13]
Liselotte Funcke (1918–2012), liberal politician, vice president of federal parliament, state Minister of Economy in North Rhine-Westphalia, Federal Commissioner for Foreigners
^"2000 Years of Parallel Societies in Stone Age Central Europe." Ruth Bollongino, Olaf Nehlich, Michael P. Richards, Jörg Orschiedt, Mark G. Thomas, Christian Sell, Zuzana Fajkošová, Adam Powell, Joachim Burger. Science. Published Online October 10, 2013. DOI: 10.1126/science.1245049 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1245049
