HAGEN

city, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), western Germany, south of Dortmund, at the confluence of the Ennepe and Volme rivers just south of the Ruhr. It lies on the eastern edge of the industrial Ruhr district and is bordered on the south by the Sauerland, a mountainous area of forests and lakes. First mentioned in the 8th century, Hagen continued as an agricultural village until the late medieval period, when iron-ore mining and iron founding became important and when varied crafts were established. Cutters and armourers from Solingen were settled there by Great Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg in 1661; these were followed by paper millers and, in the 18th century, by cloth makers from Berg and Jlich. Civic rights were granted in 1746. Industrial development began in the 19th century, and, prior to World War II, Hagen absorbed the neighbouring towns of Haspe, Boele, and Vorhalle. Largely destroyed during the war, the city was rebuilt in modern style with many parks, a theatre, and museums of art and local history. Industries include ironworking and steelworking, die-casting, and the manufacture of machinery, chemicals, paper, and textiles. Pop. (1989 est.) 210,640. also called Hagano, or Hogni, mythological Germanic hero who plays a variety of roles in a number of northern European legends. In the Nibelungenlied, he appears as a vassal of the Burgundian king Gunther and is a grizzled warrior, loyal and wary. He plays a principal role in the epic as the slayer of Siegfried, who becomes the chief object of hatred and revenge of Siegfried's widow, Kriemhild. The last of the Nibelungen to be killed, Hagen is decapitated by Kriemhild. The Latin heroic epic Waltharius, in which he is called Hagano, treats of his youth as a hostage and his escape and subsequent attachment to King Guntharius. In Old Norse poems he is Hogni, the brother of Gunnar; both brothers meet their death at the hands of Atli (Attila). See Atli, Lay of.