Wine and Local History Museum

In the Wine and Local History Museum, you will find numerous documents related to Celtic and Roman prehistory. It is documented that the city area was already settled between 3000-2000 B.C. Stone axes and grinding stones are the oldest traces of settlement in Zell. Ceramic finds and gold coins from the Celtic period testify to a development that was replaced or overlaid by the Romans. Despite intensive medieval construction in Zell, extensive foundations and structural components of a former Roman bathing facility from the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. were uncovered in 1987. Well-preserved remnants of the warm and hot baths, parts of the hypocaust heating system are reconstructed in the museum.
A room in the museum is dedicated to the development of the wine-growing area name "Zeller Schwarze Katz." In addition to exhibits on the nearly 1100-year tradition of Zell viticulture, typical tools used by Mosel vintners for grape cultivation on the steep slopes throughout the year are also displayed. Since wine used to mature exclusively in wooden barrels, a cooper worked in almost every wine village along the Mosel. He needed a variety of specialized tools for his work, all of which can be seen in the museum.
In 1850, Johann Baptist Gräff established the first cigar factory in Zell. Other large cigar houses also moved to Zell because skilled cigar rollers could be found here. The famous company Neuerburg from Trier with the cigarette brand "Overstolz" and the company Mostert from Koblenz had branches in Zell. In total, there were more than 10 cigar factories in Zell. The local museum showcases tools used by cigar rollers, a rolling table for 4 workers, labels, cigar boxes, and many photos of cigar production.
Until around 1935, there was a rope factory in Zell that supplied Zell and the surrounding areas with ropes and cords of all strengths and lengths. All the important equipment needed for rope making, such as "noodle and comb apparatus," a Hagedorn spinning machine, and a rope sled, can be found in the museum.