The roots of the Hagen facility stretch deep into the 19th century, tracing back to the establishment of Asbeck, Osthaus, Eicken & Co in 1853. In the very beginning the plant started operating with three open hearth furnace and a blooming mill.

Over time, it evolved into the notoriously influential Deutsche Edelstahlwerke AG (DEW), founded in 1927 by merging several historic stainless-steel works—once Europe’s largest stainless-steel producer with up to 15,000 employees.

Post‑World War II industrial restructuring brought ownership shifts, with Hagen aligning under the broader DEW umbrella. In 2005, amid consolidation in the industry, Swiss Steel (now Swiss Steel Group) acquired regional entities such as Edelstahl Witten‑Krefeld (est. 1994) and Edelstahlwerke Südwestfalen (2004), which merged to form the present-day Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH in 2007.

Today, the Hagen location remains a cornerstone of the group’s stainless‑steel long‑products operations — its legacy intertwined with both regional industrial tradition and modern specialization.