Editor in chief at IamExpat Media
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and Santa’s post office in Himmelpfort, a tiny town in the German state of Brandenburg, is back open for business! He’s got a busy few weeks ahead as he sets about answering thousands of letters from children all over the world in the run-up to the Christmas holiday.
According to Deutsche Post, around 15.000 wish lists from children all over the globe have already been delivered to the Christmas post office in Himmelpfort. Santa himself turned up for work on Thursday morning, a spokesperson said, and was greeted by a crowd of children.
Over the next six weeks, he and his angels will be hard at work, reading all of the letters and writing replies to send in the post. Anyone who wants to send a wish list to Santa Claus needs to make sure it arrives in Himmelpfort by December 12 at the latest, so that he gets enough time to reply before Christmas.
Address your letters to:
An den Weihnachtsmann
Weihnachtspostfiliale
16798 Himmelpfort
Don’t forget to include your home address so that Santa can send a reply!
Of all of the Christmas post offices in Germany - there are seven in total, offering replies from either Nikolaus, the Christkind, or the Weihnachtsmann, depending on your preference - the one in Himmelpfort is the largest. By Christmas Eve 2020, it had received around 320.000 wish lists from 62 different countries.
The tradition dates back to 1984, when two children decided to reach the Weihnachtsmann by addressing their letters to Himmelpfort - which means “Heaven’s Gate” in German and therefore seemed suitably magical. A local postal worker decided to send them an answer, and things snowballed from there.
Thumb: Deutsche Post DHL Group