Monschau is the cultural centre of an entire region and one of the most popular destinations for holidays and day-trippers in the Eifel. Its location, far removed from through roads and the turmoil of war, enabled the town to develop an infrastructure – by and large without any impediments – for the production of high-quality woollen cloth in the 17th century. The building stock of the town centre from the cloth-making period of the 17th and 18th century, including grand bourgeois houses such as the "Rote Haus" and "Haus Troistorff", which also served as factories at the same time, as well as larger factories in the old part of the town, have essentially been preserved.
