It was first edited on 18 September 1945, just a few months after the end of the Second World War.

With northern and central Württemberg being part of the American occupation zone from 1945 to 1949, it was the U.S. Information Control Division that issued the first publishing licence to the editors Josef Eberle, Karl Ackermann and Henry Bernhard during the first years of the paper's existence.

Erich Schairer joined them as co-editor in the fall of 1946.

Today, its publishing house is Südwestdeutsche Medien Holding.

It is mainly read in Baden-Württemberg and therefore has a strong local and regional focus, but also has significant supra-regional, national and international sections, covered by separate respective editorial departments.