In the village community center of the 900-strong town, provisionally rededicated as the Easter post office, there is a concentrated final sprint atmosphere. Boxes of letters that arrived at the address “Hanni Hase, Am Waldrand 12, 27404 Ostereistedt” are piled up here. Doris Kröger draws an interim balance:
“We have already received more than 30,000 letters from more than 40 countries, often lovingly painted.”
The 62-year-old manages the Easter branch of Deutsche Post and, with a team of 13, opens all envelopes that are answered without exception by Easter – provided, of course, they arrive on time and the sender is legibly marked.
Writing letters is particularly important for children in times of crisis
“The value of writing letters has a special meaning for children, especially in difficult times,” says Kröger and emphasizes:
“We would like to give you a little pleasure with our reply letters.”
The letters come primarily from Germany, but also from countries such as the USA, Taiwan, Japan, China and Australia. “Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are also there,” adds Kröger. Responses are usually made with forms decorated with special stamps. Otherwise the flood of post would not be manageable.
Easter post office was established in 1982
In 1982, as part of its “Write again” advertising campaign, Deutsche Post set up what was then the only Easter post office in Germany and is still the largest. After four decades, she estimates the number of letters to be around 1.5 million – mostly from children, but also from young people and adults. Initially, 70 to 80 letters came, last year there were 100,000 – a record that also had a lot to do with the pandemic.
“The children were more at home and had a lot of time to write to the Easter Bunny,” says Kröger’s predecessor, Hans-Hermann Dunker. At 83, he is the most experienced member of the Easter Bunny’s “secretariat team” that does the paperwork for Hanni. Dunker is convinced:
“You can write things to the Easter Bunny that you might not tell other people.”
The team reads wish lists which, in addition to peace and health, also deal with running bikes, mobile phones or cuddly toys.
“Some children even describe the way to the Easter nest so that Hanni doesn’t get lost,”
says Kröger with a smile. In other letters, boys and girls write that they want to give gifts themselves and give toys to children from Ukraine.
Some letters are particularly touching
Some letters particularly touch the people in the Easter post office. “For example, the message from a grandmother about a child who can neither speak nor write, but was very happy to receive a letter from Hanni Hase,” remembers Doris Kröger. And Hans-Hermann Dunker remembers the letter from 14-year-old Jenny from Shanghai, which the Chinese woman ends with the words:
“Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you”.
“It warms you up,” says Dunker happily.
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