Polycrystalline ZnS samples are studied using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The material is industrially produced by a chemical vapor deposition process (CVD). Near the substrate, crystal growth leads to grains smaller than 50 mu m in the cut plane. Elongated crystals with visible lengths of up to 400 mu m are formed further from the substrate. These crystals are heavily twinned and exhibit Sigma 3 grain boundaries (i.e., the orientation of one {111}-plane is constant while rotations of 60 degrees around its normal occur). About 1000 mu m from the substrate, the grain size shrinks to about 20 mu m along an abrupt border; a continuous grain size transition is not observed. Gradual orientation changes within single grains occur and in some cases lead to the fragmentation of grains parallel to the direction of growth. This is preferably observed in smaller grains more than 1000 mu m from the substrate. Twinning, on the other hand, predominantly occurs in the large grains near the substrate. Both mechanisms should contribute to stress minimization in the sample. Textures of the analyzed surfaced indicate a general < 001 >-orientation perpendicular to the substrate and thus parallel to the direction of crystal growth.