The winegrowing centre belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Cochem, whose seat is in the like-named town.

While Ellenz-Poltersdorf's municipal area stretches along both sides of the Moselle, mainly in the form of wooded land, the two constituent communities of Ellenz and Poltersdorf both lie on the river's left bank, where most of the vineyards are also found, and therefore most of the winegrowing estates within the municipal area.

The best known of these is Ellenzer Goldbäumchen Expressed as percentages of the total area, land use in the municipality breaks down thus (as at 31 December 2007, source: Statistisches Landesamt): About 1100, Ellenz had its first documentary mention in a directory of holdings from the Karden Monastery.

In 1815 Ellenz-Poltersdorf was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna, belonging until 1945 to the Rhine Province.

[1] The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: Within the limits of the constituent community of Ellenz, not far from the Fankel Weir, is found the RWE Power AG main control centre, from which all hydroelectric stations at weirs on the German sections of the Moselle and the Saar are controlled.