Eltville is the largest town in the Rheingau. It bears the nicknames Weinstadt, Sektstadt, Rosenstadt and since 2006 also Gutenbergstadt. Some of Germany's most famous vineyards (Steinberg, Rauenthaler Baiken, Erbacher Marcobrunn) are found within Eltville's municipal limits.
The earliest traces of humans settling here go back to the New Stone Age. 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 of Mainz. In 1329, the castle and the town wall around Eltville were built. On 23 August 1332, Emperor Louis the Bavarian 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 was defeated in his bid for the German throne at the Siege of Eltville. From Dietrich Schenk von Erbach, Archbishop of Mainz (1434–1459), the outlying centre of Erbach presumably got its name.
[edit]Crass Castle in EltvilleEltville's Burgstrasse with typical timber-frame housesEltville CastleEltville Castle c. 1832 (engraving after William Tombleson)Rosengarten, a rose garden between the high walls of the Eltville CastleRoses on the banks of the RhineCommemorative plaque for Johannes Gutenberg
Eltville is developed for tourists, and well known for its wine and sekt 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).
Johannes Gutenberg was named on 17 January 1465 a courtly nobleman by the Archbishop and Elector Adolph II of Nassau, 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 dictionary. In this workshop, Thomas Aquinas'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 (28 February 1912, Frankfurt – 2 July 1991, Eltville), German drink researcher, oenologist and food chemist.
Augustinus Kilian (1856–1930 in Limburg an der Lahn) 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, 1980.
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
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
Montrichard, Loir-et-Cher, France
Passignano sul Trasimeno, Perugia, Umbria, Italy
(in German)
