Inside Burg Eltz Castle And Its Ancient Rooms Because only one branch of the Eltz family lives at the castle today, 80 of the 120 rooms inside Eltz Castle have been turned into a museum, including a treasury and armory that houses over 500 weapons, pieces of art, and other artifacts from the last 850 years.

Eltz Castle (Burg Eltz), one of Germany's most iconic and well-preserved medieval fortresses, contains approximately 80 rooms. This fairytale-like structure, nestled in the hills above the Moselle River, is unique because it was never destroyed and has remained in the possession of the same family (the Eltz family) for 33 generations, spanning over 850 years. The castle is a "Ganerbenburg," meaning it was shared by several branches of the family, leading to its distinctive cluster of eight tall towers built around a central courtyard. Of the 80 rooms, several are open to the public during guided tours, including the Knights' Hall, the Castle Treasury, and the Banner Hall, which are filled with original 15th-century furnishings, tapestries, and weaponry. The high density of rooms within the compact footprint of the castle towers reflects the complex living arrangements of the medieval nobility, where different families occupied separate sections of the fortress while sharing common defensive walls and the inner courtyard.