Hagen is the 37th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund. In this place the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr. The population is 200,000. Hagen was first mentioned about 1200, presumably the name of a farm at the junctions of Volme and Ennepe. The growth of the city began in the 19th century with the mining of coal and the production of steel in the Ruhr Area. 1928 Hagen became a city with more than 100,000 inhabitants. In the city there is the FernUni Hagen, the only German Open University, with approximately 56,000 students (2004/05), making it the largest university in North Rhine-Westphalia. Economy 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