The historic center of Zell houses several townhouses of wealthy wine merchants, including some designed by Balthasar Neumann.

Before being reconsecrated and restored by the Sisters of the Holy Childhood of Jesus in 1901, the profaned Oberzell Abbey was Koenig & Bauer's first factory.

Unterzell Abbey was used for a variety of purposes after its mediatization, notably, it hosted Zell's small Jewish community, composed mostly of Jews from Würzburg displaced by the Hep-Hep riots.

The monastery church was ruined in World War II, while the remaining buildings have been converted to housing.

Subprioress Renata Singer of Unterzell Abbey was burned at the stake for witchcraft in 1749, one of the last women in Europe to be executed on those charges.