Biography

German painter from the Baltic region. He was born in Vijciems (Wiezemhof) in Livonia. Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, which was once the land of the Finnic Livonians. It was a province of the Russian Empire, now it is divided between Latvia and Estonia.

Hagen was the son of a miller. After studying in Munich and travelling in the Alps, he became a drawing master at the high school in Dorpat (Tartu). In 1837 he was given an honourable appointment as 'free artist' at the Academy of St Petersburg.