The Merkur – the most Bavarian of all newspapers

Created: 05/19/2022, 08:00 p.m

Merkur publisher Dirk Ippen reading his newspaper.

© Marcus sleep

The Münchner Merkur with its 23 local titles is today the most widely read newspaper in Upper Bavaria.

After 75 years of successful work, that alone is a reason to wholeheartedly congratulate the young-at-heart jubilee.

When the US occupation authorities granted the journalist Felix Buttersack a license to publish a newspaper in Munich in 1947, nobody could have imagined this great success.

Buttersack, who came from Swabia, went through the years of the Hitler regime unencumbered.

The Americans initially commissioned him with the directorship of the newly acquired Radio Munich.

Now he “invented” the

, with which he also continued the tradition of the Münchner Zeitung in the Bayerstrasse press building.

He quickly managed to gather a group of talented journalists and recruit important freelancers for his paper.

This included Ludwig Erhard, who later became the father of the economic miracle.

The Merkur - enlightened Bavarian in the sense of Liberalitas Bavariae

The Buttersack, who made a strong impression on the outside, was the right man at the right time for a newspaper based in war-ravaged Munich.

Together with Munich's then Mayor Thomas Wimmer, he had his picture taken while clearing the rubble.

He campaigned for the reconstruction of the residence, for the renovation of the Old Peter and for the "Rama Dama" campaign.

This is how he became popular among readers.

But the new newspaper achieved great publishing success after Buttersack had teamed up with both the Huck family, the old publishers of the former Münchener Zeitung, and with the extremely capable publishing salesman Ludwig Vogl, who had his roots in Upper Bavaria.

It is particularly thanks to his influence that a wreath of Upper Bavarian home newspapers with a long tradition could be included in the

newspaper network.

These newspapers – from Freising to Garmisch and from Schongau to Erding – with their long tradition as independent local newspapers ensure that the newspaper has deep Bavarian roots.

Political reporting that was always reliable, solid and averse to all extremes to the left and right has also made

a newspaper brand that is recognized throughout Germany.

Enlightened Bavarian in the sense of Liberalitas Bavariae, that is the brand essence of this newspaper, which is valued everywhere beyond Bavaria.

Greeting from the publisher Dirk Ippen on the occasion of the 75th birthday of the Münchner Merkur

Today, in the digital age, this reputation is

particularly fortunate for

As the digital branch of the newspaper, the “Merkur.de” address has become a digital platform that is popular everywhere.

Millions of readers can get up-to-date information there around the clock about world events, entertainment topics and especially about what is lived and thought in Upper Bavaria.

In addition, there is a well-founded, middle-class opinion section.

The 75-year-old newspaper is looking forward to the next quarter of a century full of optimism.

We owe it to you, dear readers, that this can happen on a solid basis.

You have always been loyal to us.

Rest assured that we will continue to strive to provide you with comprehensive information in the future, both in print and via all digital channels.

Dirk Ippen

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*The 140-page special supplement "Upper Bavaria - a region on the move" will be published on Friday, May 20 to mark the "75 years of Münchner Merkur" anniversary.

You can read an interview with Prime Minister Markus Söder on the occasion of the

birthday here.