The Nikolaus post office in St. Nikolaus, Saarland, has already answered 27,000 letters from children from all over the world. The number is slightly higher than at the same time last year, said the chairman of the St. Nicholas festival committee, Peter Gerecke, on Monday. There is a lot of mail from Ukrainian children, which will be answered in Ukrainian for the first time this year. The Nikolauspostamt is open until December 24th.
In their letters to St. Nicholas, most of the children wished for peace and a white Christmas, closely followed by “health for family, friends and everyone,” said Sabine Gerecke for the children’s letter campaign. The Nikolaus post office also received letters from foreign students who wished to pass upcoming exams.
Otherwise, the large wish list ranges from crayons, racing cars, Lego, Playstation to traditional items such as chocolate and tangerines. “Corona no longer plays a major role this year,” said Gerecke. A total of thousands more letters are expected, which 42 volunteers will answer.
At Christmas 2021, 30,711 letters were received from children in a total of 43 countries. For more than 50 years, children have been writing “To St. Nicholas” in the small town in the municipality of Großrosseln near the French border. According to Deutsche Post, it is the oldest St. Nicholas post office in Germany. The partnership between the festival committee and the post office has existed since 1967. According to the post office, it is one of seven Christmas post offices in Germany.
