The newspaper was founded in 1862 as the Rhön- und Saalpost by Max Josef Mayer, who came from Regensburg. He ran the paper in a liberal spirit, as demonstrated by the Neustadt newspaper war in 1869 with the paper Das bayerische Vaterland. During the elections in the Kingdom of Bavaria at that time, the publisher and the newspaper sided with progressive forces and defended, for example, the Jewish citizens.

In 1893, Mayer’s stepson Gallus Rötter took over the management of the publishing house after the founder’s death. The paper was published continuously, except during the years 1945–1949. By that time, most of the other regional newspapers in Lower Franconia had long ceased publication.

The newspaper remained in family ownership until 2008, when it was sold to a Berlin-based financial company. The commercial printing business was spun off in 2011 as an independent company, Rötter-Druck. In 2012, the 150th anniversary of the newspaper was celebrated.