Wine and Local History Museum

Wine- and Local History Museum Zell (Mosel)

The Wine and Local History Museum gives an interesting presentation of living history taken from the life of our local ancestors.
Exhibition on tobacco processing including relics from Roman times.
History of the local synagogue in Zell
It is so much to see in the museum in the Town Hall. First of all, the tapestry illustrating the visit of German Emperor Maximilian I in March 1512 can be viewed. There are also depictions of the symbol of Zell (Black Cat, Round Tower), the heraldry of the town of Zell and Electoral Palace. The tapestry was hand-woven on Castle Arras in 1956. The emperor’s visit to Zell was a great day for both Zell and Zell wine. The emperor had summoned his parliament to Trier in the spring of 1512. On his way there he stopped over in Zell on 7 March. As a hospitality present he received a tun of Zell wine from Elector Richard von Greiffenklau. Maximilian I stayed overnight in the electoral cellar in which the electoral cellar master, Georg Senheim, had prepared his bed. Apart from this historical event, there are numerous documents and traces of former settlements from the Celtic and Roman eras (3,000 – 2,000 BC) to be admired in the local history museum.
There are presentations of stone axes, mill stones, ceramic artefacts and gold coins from Celtic times as well as extensive building blocks from a Roman bath (2nd and 3rd century B.C.) The exhibits are extremely well preserved and show sections of a warm and hot bath with a hot water heating system.
Of course the development of the famous collective vineyard “Black Cat” is demonstrated. Apart from exhibits covering the almost 1,100 years of tradition in Zell viticulture there are also many work tools and utensils used by winegrowers in the past to cultivate vineyards in the steep slopes of the Mosel As the wine was entirely matured in wooden casks in former times and these could only be made with cooper’s special tools, there is an exhibition of these tools as well.
In 1850 Johann Baptist Gräff founded the first cigar factory in Zell. Further cigar factories followed. The famous company Neuerburg from Trier with its brand name cigarette “Overstolz" and the Mostert Company from Koblenz both had subsidiaries in Zell.
There is an interesting exhibition of tools, labels, cigarette packs and photos depicting the production of cigarettes.
Until about 1935 a ropery existed in Zell which provided rope and string to the neighbouring villages. Typical tools for rope production are on display.
Jews have lived in Zell since the 14th century. Evidence of this community can be seen in the synagogue in the Electoral Palace and also at the Jewish cemetery in Bullay. In the upper floor of the museum there is an exhibition dedicated to the life and influence of the Jewish community. The Jewish community in Zell was abruptly terminated with the "Reichskristallnacht" in November 1938.

Information:
Wine- and Local History Museum
City hall, Balduinstraße 44
56856 Zell (Mosel)
Phone +49 6542 9696-0
Fax    +49 6542 9696-46
info@zellmosel.de
www.zell-mosel.com