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 in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It lies on the German Timber-Frame Road (). Eltville is the biggest 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. Geography Location Eltville, which belongs culturally to the Rheingau region, lies on the River Rhine, 12 km west-southwest of Wiesbaden. Neighbouring municipalities Eltville borders in the north on the municipalities of Schlangenbad and Kiedrich, in the east on the district-free city of Wiesbaden and the municipality of Walluf, in the south – separated by the Rhine – on the municipalities of Budenheim und Heidesheim and the town of Ingelheim (all three in Mainz-Bingen in Rhineland-Palatinate) and in the west on the town of Oestrich-Winkel. Territorial structure Eltville am Rhein as a municipality consists of five Stadtteile: Eltville (initial part and center) Erbach Hattenheim Martinsthal Rauenthal All of them have the status as an Ortsbezirk. History 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 archiepiscopal 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. 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, Loir-et-Cher, France Arzens, Aude, France Passignano sul Trasimeno, Perugia, Umbria,