It was the second capital of the Kröver Reich, a Carolingian crown estate that existed until the French Revolution.

The document in question, from King Heinrich II, is dated 18 May 1008 and documents an exchange agreement under which Archbishop Willigis of Mainz traded to Saint Stephen's Church at Mainz an estate in Reil (then known as Rigula) for another estate in Büchenbach (then known as Buochinbah).

[3] During the Middle Ages, an important pilgrimage centre, called Reilkirch, stood across the Moselle from Reil, whose Romanesque tower and Early Gothic nave were completely demolished in the 19th century.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Reil, with more than 200 ha of vineyards under cultivation, was one of the biggest winegrowing centres on the Moselle.

The vineyards of Goldlay, Falklay, Moullay-Hofberg and Sorentberg belong to the winemaking appellation – Großlage – of Vom Heißen Stein (“From The Hot Stone”) and to the Mosel wine region's Bernkastel area.