The town of Zell was first mentioned as Cella in 1128, in relation to the still-extant Oberzell Abbey. The municipality's patron is St. Lawrence, who is also depicted in Zell's coat of arms, and to whom the Parish Church is dedicated. For much of its history, the town's main industry was winemaking. It attained market rights in 1833. The historic center of Zell houses several townhouses of wealthy wine merchants, including some designed by Balthasar Neumann.
Along with Oberzell Abbey, the municipality is also the site of Unterzell Abbey, founded in 1230. Both abbeys were secularized in the German mediatization. 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. Today, a restored Sukkah on the Klosterhof commemorates the Jewish presence in Zell. The monastery church was ruined in World War II, while the remaining buildings have been converted to housing.
