The term "Hagener Impuls" is inseparably linked with the name of Karl Ernst Osthaus (1874-1921), who set himself the task of reconciling art and life as a museum founder, patron of the arts, purveyor of culture and organiser at the beginning of the 20th century . His "Folkwang Concept" was driven by a great vision: to exert a positive influence on the social reality of an entire industrial region, his home town of Hagen, and to brighten up people's lives. Founding the Museum Folkwang in 1902, which soon achieved fame as the world's first museum for contemporary art, marked the beginning of his cultural projects. However, Osthaus's initiative went beyond merely establishing the museum. The purpose of his "cultural mission" was rather to make "beauty once again the dominant force in life". He placed his faith in art as a means of restructuring social life. 

Osthaus thus set about attracting outstanding artists to Hagen, procuring them commissions, founding an artists' colony, workshops and a teaching institute. He was particularly interested in architecture and town planning, since these provided the framework for implementing his utopian idea of society as an integral work of art. Major architects such as Henry van de Velde, Peter Behrens, J.L.M. Lauweriks, Richard Riemerschmid and Bruno Taut created buildings which have gained a firm place in art history as outstanding examples of the new architecture of the period around 1910 and can still be admired in Hagen today. Further evidence of the "Hagener Impuls" - art and handicraft by artists from Hagen - will be on show at the Hohenhof from 1996 onwards.