Ernst is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatnate, Germany. The winegrowing centre belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Cochem, whose seat is in the like-named town.The municipality lies in a bow in the river Moselle only 4 km from Cochem, going towards Trier. Over on the other side of the Moselle lies Valwig. Ernst’s municipal area comprises 418 ha, of which 90 ha is vineyards and 227 ha is wooded. Ernst has 617 inhabitants who maintain their main residence in the municipality and another 40 who have a secondary residence there.