Hagen - The gateway to the Sauerland region

Hagen was first mentioned in historic writings at a relatively late stage and the city’s name first appeared in the 11th Century, although the documentary evidence of settlements in the location of the current city goes back many centuries before this period. There have been important discoveries of human bones in the potholes here dating from the Stone Age, which according to independent research by the Universities of Kiel and Oxford date back well over 10,000 years. These finds are some of the few surviving human remains from this era in the whole of Europe. Thanks to the special geological formation of the subsoil, Hagen is the location of a world-renowned geotope. Many fossils have been discovered during limestone quarrying in and around Hagen over the last few centuries, from insects dating back over 300 million years to land-based dinosaurs and early mammals

Culture, Leisure & Sports

The city on the River Lenne became known super-regionally in the early 1980s. Many leading protagonists of the Neue Deutsche Welle music scene such as Nena and Extrabreit made Hagen the epicentre of German pop culture during this time. 

The city’s geographical location makes it a popular place to go walking. There are many well-developed walking routes around the “greenest city in the Ruhr region” with over 40% woodland and two sizeable lakes Hengsteysee and Harkortsee on the River Ruhr, which offer attractive river bank areas and optimal conditions for water sports such as windsurfing, rowing and canoeing.