Eltville am Rhein (from ''Alta Villa'', Latin for "high estate, high town", corrupted to ''Eldeville'', ''Elfeld'' and later Eltville, ) is a town in the

Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is part of the Darmstadt region; its main administrative seat is Bad Schwalbach. Outposted sections of the local administration are located in Idstein and R ...

in the ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'' of

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

, Germany. It lies on the

German Timber-Frame Road The German Timber-Frame Road (German: ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'') is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to the Black Forest and Lake Constance in the south. Numerous cities and towns each with examples of the vernacu ...

('). Eltville is the biggest town in the

Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part of the Rheing ...

. It bears the nicknames ''Weinstadt'', ''Sektstadt'', ''Rosenstadt'' and since 2006 also ''Gutenbergstadt''. Some of Germany's most famous

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

s (Steinberg, Rauenthaler Baiken, Erbacher Marcobrunn) are found within Eltville's municipal limits.

Geography

Location

Eltville, which belongs culturally to the

region, lies on the

River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

, 12 km west-southwest of

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Neighbouring municipalities

Eltville borders in the north on the municipalities of

Schlangenbad Schlangenbad is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The community, which is a health resort (''Kurort''), lies above sea level in a sheltered location on ...

and

Kiedrich Kiedrich is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Geography Kiedrich lies in the Rheingau on the south slope of the Taunus, approximately 2 km north from the town of Eltvil ...

, in the east on the district-free city of

and the municipality of

Walluf Walluf is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. With 5,581 residents in its 6.74 square kilometer area, it is the most densely populated community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis. G ...

, in the south – separated by the Rhine – on the municipalities of

Budenheim Budenheim is a municipality in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Unlike other municipalities in Mainz-Bingen, it does not belong to any ''Verbandsgemeinde''. Geography Location The Municipality of Budenheim is the o ...

und

Heidesheim Heidesheim am Rhein is an ''Ortsbezirk'' (borough) of the town Ingelheim am Rhein in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Before July 2019, it was a separate municipality belonging to the former ''Verbandsgemeinde'' (a kind ...

and the town of

Ingelheim Ingelheim (), officially Ingelheim am Rhein ( en, Ingelheim upon Rhine), is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. The town sprawls along the Rhine's west bank. It has been Mainz-Bingen's district seat ...

(all three in

Mainz-Bingen Mainz-Bingen is a district (''Kreis'') in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Rheingau-Taunus, the district-free cities Wiesbaden and Mainz, the districts Groß-Gerau, Alzey-Worms, Bad Kreuzna ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

) and in the west on the town of

Oestrich-Winkel Oestrich-Winkel () is a town with roughly 12,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Oestrich-Winkel, which culturally belongs to the Rheingau region, lies ...

Territorial structure

Eltville am Rhein as a municipality consists of five

Stadtteil A quarter is a section of an urban settlement. A quarter can be administratively defined and its borders officially designated, and it may have its own administrative structure (subordinate to that of the city, town or other urban area). Such a ...

e: * Eltville (initial part and center) * Erbach *

Hattenheim Hattenheim is a ''Stadtteil'' in Eltville am Rhein, Hesse, Germany. It lies within the Rheingau wine region. Points of interest * Burg Hattenheim * Eberbach Abbey (Kloster Eberbach) * Schloss Reichartshausen * Steinberg, Kloster Eberbach ...

* Martinsthal * Rauenthal All of them have the status as an

Ortsbezirk A ''Stadtbezirk'' (also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It is translated as "borough". In Germany, ''Stadtbezirke'' usually only exist in a metropo ...

History

The earliest traces of humans settling here go back to the

New Stone Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

. There has been continuous habitation since the late 4th century. Eltville had its first documentary mention in ''Vita Bardonis'' (Bardo's life) from 1058, a biography of Archbishop

Bardo In some schools of Buddhism, ''bardo'' ( xct, བར་དོ་ Wylie: ''bar do'') or ''antarābhava'' (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as ''zhōng yǒu'' and in Japanese as ''chū'u'') is an intermediate, transitio ...

of Mainz. In 1329, the archiepiscopal castle and the town wall around Eltville were built. On 23 August 1332, Emperor

Louis the Bavarian Louis IV (german: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328. Louis' election as king of Germany in ...

granted Eltville town rights. With the granting of town rights, Eltville ended up being a pawn in the then ongoing dispute between the Emperor and the Pope. Archbishop Baldwin, one of Emperor Louis's followers and administrator of the Mainz monastery, was the one who asked for Eltville to be raised to town. From 1347 to 1480, Eltville was the residence of the Archbishops of Mainz. In 1349,

Günther of Schwarzburg Günther, Guenther, Ginther, Gunther, and the variants Günter, Guenter, Guenther, Ginter, and Gunter, are Germanic names derived from ''Gunthere, Gunthari'', composed of '' *gunþiz'' "battle" (Old Norse ''gunnr'') and ''heri, hari'' "army". Gun ...

was defeated in his bid for the German throne at the

Siege of Eltville The siege of Eltville (or battle of Eltville) in May 1349 was the military engagement by which Charles IV secured the throne of the Holy Roman Empire against his rival, Günther of Schwarzburg. It was the third time a disputed succession in the Em ...

. From Dietrich Schenk von Erbach, Archbishop of Mainz (1434–1459), the outlying centre of Erbach presumably got its name.

Politics

Town council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Town partnerships

The town of Eltville am Rhein maintains partnerships with these places: *

Montrichard Montrichard () is a town and former commune in the Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Montrichard Val de Cher. During the French Revolution, the commune was known as ''M ...

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La P ...

, France * Arzens,

Aude Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Ca ...

, France *

Passignano sul Trasimeno Passignano sul Trasimeno is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region of Umbria, located about 20 km northwest of Perugia. Passignano was home to a historic Italian airplane factory, the SAI Ambrosini, now ...

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

* Electoral castle from the 14th century, with a

rose garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...

* Remains of town fortifications *

timber-frame Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

from the 16th and 18th centuries * Eberbach

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

* ''Clos'' of the

Steinberg Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH (trading as Steinberg) is a German musical software and hardware company based in Hamburg. It develops music writing, recording, arranging, and editing software, most notably Cubase, Nuendo, and Dorico. It also ...

, Germany's best known ''clos'' (small, enclosed

) * Schloss Reinhartshausen (palace) * St. Peter's and Paul's parish church from the 14th century * Pfarrkirche St. Markus (St. Mark's parish church) in Erbach from the 15th century and the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

church in Erbach from the 19th century. * Kulturkirche Martinsthal (culture church) * Crass Castle

Regular events

* Gutenberg-Winter in Eltville – each year in January and February * Rheingauer Schlemmerwoche (gluttons' week) and Days of Open Wine Cellars with many wine samplings – late April/early May * Rosentage in Eltville (rose days) – each year on the first weekend in June * Erdbeerfest in Erbach (strawberry festival) – each year in mid-June * Sektfest Eltville – each year on the first weekend in July * Martinsthaler Weinfest – always on the second weekend in July *

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

– International Music Festival, in summer * Rauenthaler Weinfest – on the second or third weekend in August * Burghofspiele – in summer * Kappeskerb/Weinlesefest in Eltville (

kermis Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is a Dutch language term derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) that became borrowed in English, French, Spanish and many other languages, originally denoting the mass said on the anniversary of the foundat ...

/wine harvest festival) – each year on the last weekend in October * Rheingau Pokal ("cup" in taekwondo, fighting) – each year in mid-November * Musikalischer Winter in Eltville – each year on each Thursday from mid-November to late April * Christmas Market in the Old Town – on the second weekend in December.

Economy and infrastructure

Economy and tourism

Eltville is developed for tourists, and well known for its

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

and

sekt Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

production, which can be sampled at many wineries and ''Straußwirtschaften'' (seasonal wine shops). Eltville is the headquarters of MM-Sektkellerei (which today belongs to Rotkäppchen-Sekt), Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach (Hessian State Wine Estates of Eberbach Monastery), and Sektmanufaktur Schloss Vaux, as well as the biggest industrial employer in the Rheingau, Jean Müller GmbH Elektrotechnische Fabrik. Eltville is one of Germany's ten "Rosenstädte" (rose towns).

Transport

Eltville lies on ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

'' 42, which towards the east is built like an

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

and near Walluf seamlessly joins the A 66.

Eltville station Eltville station is the railway station of Eltville in the Rheingau in the German state of Hesse, on the East Rhine Railway from Wiesbaden to Koblenz. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 5 station. History The station was opene ...

also lies on the

East Rhine Railway The East Rhine Railway (German: ''Rechte Rheinstrecke'', literally 'right (of the) Rhine railway') is a major, double-track, electrified railway line, running along the right bank of the Rhine from Cologne to Wiesbaden. The -long line forms two D ...

, which connects

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and belongs to the

Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) is a transport association that covers the public transport network of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main area in Germany. Its head office is located in Hofheim im Taunus. Organisation and area covered The RMV ...

. On the Rhine's bank are several landing stages for, among others, the

Köln-Düsseldorfer Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD) is a river cruise operator based in Cologne, Germany. The company operates a total of 14 cruise ships on the Rhine, Main and Moselle rivers. The famous KD steamer line operated on the Rhine with steamers and tourist boa ...

Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt, a well known Rhine passenger ship operator.

Education

* Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule (

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

in the main town) * Gutenberg-Schule (

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

in the main town) * Gymnasium Eltville (in the main town) * Sonnenblumenschule (primary school in Erbach) * Waldbachschule (primary school in Hattenheim) * Otfried-Preußler-Schule (primary school in Rauenthal) * Mediathek Eltville (public municipal library) * IREBS Immobilier Akademie, Real Estate Management academy situated in Kloster Eberbach

Notable people

Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable type, movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its ki ...

was named on 17 January 1465 a courtly nobleman by the Archbishop and Elector

Adolph II of Nassau Adolph II (or III) of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein (German: Adolf II. von Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein) (c. 1423 – 6 September 1475) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1461 until 1475. Adolph was a son of Count Adolph II of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein. In 14 ...

, who at the time resided in the Electoral castle at Eltville. Presumably under Gutenberg's guidance, the Brothers Bechtermünz founded a small printing shop. This published in 1467 the '' Vocabularius ex quo'', a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

dictionary. In this workshop,

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

's ''Summa de articulis fidei'' (1472) was also reprinted. This made Eltville one of the cradle towns of book printing. In the castle tower, a memorial recalls Gutenberg. Gutenberg's brother, Friele Gensfleisch, lived in Eltville from 1434 until his death in 1447. The Gensfleisch-Haus still stands today right next to the castle. *Gebeno von Eberbach, clergyman *

Julius Koch Julius Koch (1872 – 30 March 1902), also known as ("Constantin the Giant"), was one of the tallest people ever. He suffered from gigantism, with an enlarged pituitary gland, testicular atrophy and lack of sexual development, and had trouble ...

(28 February 1912,

2 July 1991, Eltville), German drink researcher, oenologist and food chemist. * Georg Herber (1763–1833 in Eltville), for many years President of the second chamber of The Estates of

Duchy of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...

Sons and daughters of the town

*Michael Apitz (born 1965), graphic and comic strip artist *

Franz Josef Jung Franz Josef Jung (born 5 March 1949) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He became Federal Minister of Defence in the Grand coalition cabinet of Angela Merkel on 22 November 2005. In October 2009 he became Ministe ...

(born 1949), German politician (CDU) and Federal Minister of Defence in the first Merkel cabinet *Augustinus Kilian (1856–1930 in

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hessen between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The to ...

) was from 1913 until his death in 1930 Roman Catholic Bishop of the Bishopric of Limburg an der Lahn. *Heinrich Köppler (1925–1980), German politician (CDU), candidate at the Landtag election in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

, 1980. *

Wilhelm Kreis Wilhelm Kreis (17 March 1873 – 13 August 1955) was a prominent German architect and professor of architecture, active through four political systems in German history: the Wilhelmine era, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the founda ...

(1873–1955), architect *Eduard Kremer (1881–1948), politician *Ernst Freiherr Langwerth von Simmern (1865–1942), German diplomat, ambassador in Madrid and Imperial commissar for the occupied Rhenish areas in Koblenz *Ferdinand Wilhelm Emil Roth (1853–1924), historical researcher * Andreas Scholl (born 1967),

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

Bernhard Schott Bernhard Peter Schott (9 August 174826 April 1809) was a German clarinetist and music publisher. He founded the predecessor of Schott Music, a major German music publishing company which continues to this day. Biography Schott was the eldest ch ...

(1748–1809), music publisher, founded the music publishing house

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

in 1770 *

Jennifer Braun Jennifer Braun (born 28 April 1991) is a German singer. She was runner-up at the talent show '' Unser Star für Oslo'', Germany's national pre-selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Her first music single was " I Care for You". B ...

(born 1991), singer, lives in Eltville

Photo gallery

Eltville biedermeier.jpg, Bronze sculpture of a

Biedermeier The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...

couple Altstadt Eltville St Peter & Paul.jpg, St. Peter's and Paul's parish church Altstadt Eltville Nacht St Peter & Paul.jpg, St. Peter's and Paul's parish church Weinstube Gelbes Haus, Burgstraße 3 and 5, Eltville 20150222 2.jpg, Historic half-timbered buildings

References

External links

*
Hattenheim

Rheingau Daily Photo Blog
*
Image of Elfeld
(today Eltville) from J.F. Dielmann, A. Fay, J. Becker (illustrators): ''Panorama of the Rhine – View of the right and left bank of the Rhine'', Lithographische Anstalt F. C. Vogel, Frankfurt 1833 {{Authority control Populated places on the Rhine Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Rheingau