Hagen Attractions

In Hagen's southern district of Selbecke can be found the interesting Westphalian Open-Air Museum, covering an area of 34 hectares/85 acres in the Mäckingerbach valley, with numerous industrial installations (including mills, smithies and a variety of workshops) from different parts of Westphalia.

25km/15mi southeast of Hagen is Altena, with the ancestral castle (originally 13th C.) of the Counts von der Mark, beautifully situated above the Lenne valley. The youth hostel opened here in 1912 was the first in Germany.

The villa development of Hohenhagen in Hagen's Eppenhausen district reflects the town-planning ideas of the Werkbund (founded in 1907 to promote good industrial design). Its central feature is the Hohenhof, a house built by van de Velde for Karl Ernst Osthaus in 1906-08.

10km/6mi north of Hagen lies the Hengsteysee, the first artificial lake (reservoir) created in the Ruhr (1928). It has a recreation area and water sports.

To the south of the Town Hall in Hagen, at Hochstrasse 73, is the Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum (20th C. art), in a monumental Art Nouveau building designed by Henry van de Velde. There are a number of other Art Nouveau houses elsewhere in the town.

In Friedrich-Ebert-Platz in Hagen stands the Town Hall (Rathaus), which has on its tower a gilded sphere of special steel representing the sun, set up here in 1965. It has a diameter of 1.39m (just over 4.5ft) - a billionth part of the sun's diameter - and the whole of the solar system is distributed about the town on the same scale, with bronze plates on the pavements marking the orbits of the planets.

Adjoining the Osthaus Museum in Hagen is the Municipal Museum, with exhibits on the development of the town and domestic interiors.

In Hagen's southeastern district of Hohenlimburg stands Schloss Hohenlimburg (13th-14th C., with later alterations), now housing a museum (folk art and traditions, domestic interiors, history of region, prehistory and early historical period). The Schlossfestspiele (Festival) is held in the courtyard in summer (drama, ballet, concerts).