Altena is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north of the Sauerland in the Lenne river valley, Population: 21,500 (2005). Area: 44.29 km². It belongs to the district Märkischer Kreis.

The history of Altena starts with the construction of the castle in the 12th century, which was the original seat of Counts of the Mark.

In 1367 the settlement below the castle did receive the official city rights. In 1609 the whole dukedom changed to belong to Brandenburg, and later to Prussia.

Biggest attraction is the castle Burg Altena. After being unused for centuries it was in ruins, part of the buildings were used to be hospital. A complete reconstruction finished mostly in 1914 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the merging of Mark to Prussia in 1909.

In 1912 worlds first youth hostel was created by Richard Schirrmann inside the castle, the old rooms are still on display, and new rooms inside the castle area are still part of the hostel now.

The dominant industry in Altena was wire production since the 12th century, and as the city is called the cradle
of European wire industry, it has a museum dedicated to this industry only, the Drahtmuseum.

It may take some time for the pictures to get loaded
The coat of arms of the city of Altena
A scenic view of Altena
The "Wire-Tree Avenue"
The "Splenterroelleken", a monument for the history of wire making with water mills
The river Lenne in downtown Altena
The center of the City
The Castle of Altena
The Castle at winter
all pictures (c) of Dr. Juergen Johlitz