The Merkur was the second newspaper after the Süddeutsche Zeitung which was allowed to be published in Munich. 1968 the subsidiary tz was brought onto the market as a tabloid.

The first edition of what was initially named Münchner Mittag ("Munich Noon"), was released on 13 November 1946 through a licence of the American military government.[2][3] One of the founding members and publishers was Felix Buttersack.

In 1982, the Westphalian publisher Dirk Ippen purchased the Munich newspaper group including the newspapers Münchner Merkur and tz.

Every year since 1996, readers of the Münchner Merkur have been voting for the winner of the Merkur-Theaterpreis (Merkur-theatre-prize).