Eltz Castle near Koblenz deeply impressed many visitors. The German art-historian Georg Dehio declared it 'the castle par exellence'. This book describes its history and takes readers through the interior of the castle as well as through the treasure vault. Victor Hugo was simply impressed by the castle: "High, mighty, suprising, sombre", he wrote in his diary after his visit and continued: "I have never seen anything like it." To the English travel writer Katharine Macquoid it was "a fairy-tale in stone." Eltz Castle with its 850-years history and its picturesque setting still is the quintessence of a castle today.