| **Loans and Allowance - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands** | 3 Months Ended |         |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|---------|
||
| **Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]**                    |           |    |
| Loans held for sale                                                                 | $ 3,628        | $ 9,894 |
| Consumer                                                                            |           |    |
| **Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]**                    |           |    |
| Mortgage loans with formal foreclosure proceedings                                  | $ 3,208        | $ 1,391 |
| Real estate loans - Commercial and farmland                                         |           |    |
| **Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]**                    |           |    |
| Percentage of troubled debt restructured loans                                      | 48.00%         |    |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Financing Receivable, Modifications, Post-Modification, Loans as Percentage of Troubled Debt Restructured Loans
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**frme_FinancingReceivableModificationsPostModificationLoansAsPercentageOfTroubledDebtRestructuredLoans**Namespace Prefix:**frme_**Data Type:**num:percentItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_AccountsNotesAndLoansReceivableLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
The face amount of loans that will be sold to other entities.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=28367877&loc=d3e4428-111522
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_LoansReceivableHeldForSaleAmount**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Recorded investment of consumer mortgage loan receivables secured by residential real estate properties for which formal foreclosure proceedings are in process.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 35 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49124121&loc=SL49126937-111524
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_MortgageLoansInProcessOfForeclosureAmount**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentByClassOfFinancingReceivableAxis=us-gaap_ConsumerLoanMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentByClassOfFinancingReceivableAxis=frme_CommercialAndFarmLandLoansMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |