Adolf Hermann Wilhelm Hagen (23 September 1820 – 17 August 1894) was a public official in Prussia. He was also a banker and a liberal politician.
He is known for the "Hagen resolution", presented in the Prussian House of Representatives in 1862, which triggered a general election and heralded the end of the so-called (and as matters turned out short-lived) "New Era" in Prussian politics.
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Early life
Adolf Hagen (in some sources Adolph Hagen) was born into a leading family of successful intellectuals in Königsberg, the principal city in what was then East Prussia. His father was Carl Heinrich Hagen, a leading lawyer, socio-economist and senior government official. An uncle was the pioneering professor for Art history and Aesthetics, Ernst August Hagen. The chemist Karl Gottfried Hagen was his grandfather.
Career
Hagen studied jurisprudence at Königsberg and then, in 1843, entered into public service in Königsberg. In 1854 he became "city treasurer" (Stadtkämmerer) for Berlin and a salaried councillor, positions he retained, following re-election in 1866, till 1871. He then switched his principal focus into the private sector, taking a directorship with the Deutsche Unionbank, and was involved in the creation of several public companies. After the bank was dissolved he returned to civic duties, and in 1876 became a Berlin alderman.