Hagen is a city in the green, 42 percent of its area are covered by woods and forests, and four rivers meet on the city grounds, the rivers Ruhr, Lenne, Volme and Ennepe. It is one of 23 towns in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and is situated between the industrialized Ruhr area in the north and the rangy Sauerland in the south.

Hagen was of little significance until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, when the trip hammers provided the growing industry with products and led to a modest prosperity of the area. In the 19th century, Hagen became an important railway junction, and a traffic junction in the 20th century, with an urban population of 230,000 inhabitants at its peak in 1975. Since then, Hagen has been hit by the steel and coal crisis of the late 20th century, and its peripheral position at the edge of the Ruhr area has led to a 20 percent reduction of population.

Friedrich Ebert square with town hall tower and Volme shopping mall

Get in

By plane

Dortmund airport (DTM ^IATA) 15 km north of Hagen is home of several low-cost airlines and serves mainly national and European travellers. If you are arriving from farther away, Düsseldorf (DUS ^IATA, Cologne-Bonn (CGN ^IATA) or Frankfurt Airport (FRA ^IATA) may be options.

By train

Hagen's central station (Hagen Hauptbahnhof) is the junction of nationwide Deutsche Bahn and regional railway lines with connections to most major cities.

By car

Hagen is situated at the crossing of three main motorways, A1, A45 and A46.

Get around

Public transportation services are handled by the public transport operator Hagener Straßenbahn AG, which is part of the public transport association Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (abbreviated VRR). Some people say, walking is the best.

See

Castles

• 1 Schloss Hohenlimburg, Alter Schlossweg 30, ☏ +49 2334 2771. Castle on a hill at Hagen-Hohenlimburg 
• 2 Wasserschloss Werdringen, Werdringen 1, ☏ +49 2331 3067266. Moated castle at Hagen-Vorhalle 

Museums

• 3 LWL-Freilichtmuseum Hagen (Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Handwerk und Technik), Mäckingerbach, ☏ +49 23 31 78 070. Open-air museum of handicraft and technology at Hagen-Eilpe 
• 4 Osthaus Museum Hagen, Museumsplatz 3, ☏ +49 23 31 20 73 138. Art gallery at Hagen-City 
• 5 Emil Schumacher Museum, Museumsplatz 2, ☏ +49 23 31 30 60 066. Museum of Modern Art at Hagen-City 

Do

• Walking in the hills surrounding the city centre, with an excellent network of hiking trails.
• Cycling along the rivers flowing through the city, and along the adjacent lakes of the Ruhr valley.

Buy

There are two malls in the city, Volme Galerie and Rathaus Galerie.

Eat

• 1 Cafe Bistro Mundial, Potthofstr. 22, ☏ +49 2331 183947, mundial@allerwelthaus.org. Mon-Fri 10:00-19:00 Sat 11:00-17:00. vegetarian & vegan ca 10 € for a decent meal and a softdrink. (updated Nov 2018)
• 2 Mykonos, Hohenlimburger Str. 216, ☏ +49 2334 3598. (updated Jul 2018)
• 3 Kipos, Dödterstr.10, ☏ +49 2331 3404 932. 
• 4 La Fontana, Helferstr. 60-64, ☏ +49 2331 628331. 
• 5 Vapiano Hagen, Elbersufer 1/Märkischer Ring 88, 58095 Hagen, ☏ +49 2331 2044 751, hagen1@vapiano.de. Sun-Thu 10AM-11PM, Fri-Sat 10AM-01AM. (updated Feb 2017)

Sleep

• 1 Jugendherberge Hagen, Eppenhauser Straße 65 a, 58093 Hagen, ☏ +49 2331 50254, fax: +49 2331 588576, jh-hagen@djh-wl.de. Check-in: 3PM - 11PM. youth hostel 23,70 € per night in a dorm, and up. (updated Feb 2017)
• 2 CampusHotel, Feithstr. 131, ☏ +49 2331 62 41 10. 
• 3 City-Hotel Deutsches Haus, Bahnhofstr. 35, ☏ +49 2331 210 51. 
• 4 Mercure Hotel, Wasserloses Tal 4, ☏ +49 2331 3910. 

Go next

• Iserlohn
• Wuppertal - famous for its suspension railway
• Dortmund