Burg Monschau

Work on the castle above the Rur gorge began in the 1190s under Walram IV of Limburg, and it enters the written record in 1217 as castrum in Munjoje. The dukes of Jülich fortified it heavily after 1354, adding ring walls, a drawbridge and the Eselsturm; troops of Charles V battered it in 1543, and the wars of the following century passed through it more than once. Later owners stripped the roof to escape taxation and the fabric decayed until the town bought it in 1900. The great hall was rebuilt in 1930 to house a youth hostel, which still occupies part of the site. Each summer the courtyard becomes an auditorium: Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Strauss's Der Zigeunerbaron are among the operas given within the walls.