Wolfen is a town in the district Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it is part of the town Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 6 kilometres northwest of Bitterfeld, and 20 kilometres south of Dessau.
In the early 1920s the first colour film of the world was produced by AGFA in Wolfen. After the second world war the name was ORWO (ORiginal WOlfen). ORWO was the only worldwide trademark of the GDR. During GDR years, Wolfen became home to most people working at the Bitterfeld and Wolfen industrial plants (Filmfabrik Wolfen, Chemiekombinat Bitterfeld (including former Farbenfabrik, Wolfen)) and lignite mining company BKK Bitterfeld (today: MIBRAG). Since the German reunification, the whole area has suffered from disinvestment, deindustrialization, and depopulation; unemployment became a serious problem. The population decreased by approximately 50% because of these problems. Since the 1990s industrial empoyment has improved again with Bayer, Hereaus, Q-Cells and Guardian Industries.
The first documentary mention of Wolfen was as Wulffen in 1400 in a fee (feudal tenure). The place name was named after a founder whose name began with Wolf. In 1846 lignite was found in the region which was mined and the current Silver Lake was developed from this mine. A type of color film was developed by AGFA in 1936 in Wolfen. The method was annexed by American troops in 1945 and given to Kodak.
During World War II hundreds of women, children and men from the annexed lands were forced to work in the IG-Farben factories.