Ален

Ahlen's modern history is closely connected with the Westfalen coal mine. Work on its shafts began in 1909, and mining shaped the town's growth, workers' housing and migration. The last coal was raised on 30 June 2000; active operations ended on 1 July. Former mine buildings have since been adapted for businesses, education, leisure and cultural events, including concerts.

The town also gave its name to the Ahlen Programme, adopted on 3 February 1947 by the CDU in the British occupation zone. The document criticised an economic system organised principally around capitalist profit and called for a social and economic order serving the population's welfare. It belongs to the party's early post-war development, rather than being a description of its later economic policy.