AKEN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Prussia, on the Elbe, 25 m. E.S.E. of Magdeburg, with a branch line to Cöthen (8 m.). Pop. (1900) 7358. It has manufactures of cloth, leather, chemicals and optical instruments; large quantities of beetroot sugar are produced in the neighbourhood; and there is a considerable transit trade on the Elbe.