HIMMELPFORT, Germany — This tiny village 60 miles west of Berlin has one long street, iconic half-timbered houses and a very special post office.
Here, 20 multilingual "angels" spend months answering hundreds of thousands of letters that children from around the world write to Santa Claus in hopes he'll grant their Christmas wishes.
“It’s Santa’s magic,” said Deutsche Post spokeswoman Tina Birke during a bustling afternoon at the German postal service's special branch office. “The children put so much work into the letters that it’s nice when they receive an answer.”
Himmelpfort (Heaven’s Gate) has run Santa's postal operation since 1984, when a couple of German children addressed their letters to Santa and sent them here. They believed that as a result of the village’s name, Santa must live here.
A local postwoman decided to answer them herself, and word quickly spread that Himmelpfort was the place to reach Santa. Growing at a steady pace, the letters exploded in number after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Now the village of 500 residents receives more than 300,000 letters to Santa each year from 69 countries, including the United States.
The official address: An den Weihnachtsmann (To Santa Claus), Weihnachtspostfiliale (Santa's Post Office Branch), 16798 Himmelpfort, Deutschland (Germany). But some make it here addressed simply "To Santa."
The letters can be heart-wrenching, uplifting or funny. Some children ask for toys and the latest electronic gadget. Others ask for their sick parent to get better or a wish for a family member. One memorable letter came from a boy who wanted his little sister to grow teeth soon so that they could eat together.
“The children have many different types of wishes,” Birke said. “Smaller children often want toys, and older children want smartphones. Santa’s response is a secret — we want every child to be surprised.”
The children often illustrate their wishes with vibrant drawings or color their lists with crayons. These letters often brighten up the letter-writers' days.
In one letter, 9-year-old Leena Zerbock from Berlin drew a starry sky with an angel hovering above a snowman and a deer. She wished for accessories for her toy horses, including a blanket and saddle.
“We’re delighted to read these letters with beautiful pictures and handcrafted wish lists,” said "angel" Konni Matzke, as she sat at a round table flipping through books of postal codes with fellow helpers to properly address replies. “Many children work very hard to bring joy to Santa Claus.”
Santa and his helpers, mostly nearby residents dressed as angels in flowing silky white gowns, write handwritten responses in languages ranging from English to Lithuanian. These are stamped with a special seasonal postmark of Santa Claus surrounded by festive stars.
Some children can't wait until Christmas: By summer, the town had received 7,700 letters waiting to be answered, Birke said. By its official opening Nov.10, it had already received 23,255 missives.
The holiday spirit in Himmelpfort, whose founding dates back to 1299, is not just limited to the post office, which sits at the end of the main road, marked by a giddy wooden elf holding a letter above a post box.
The Weihnachtshaus (Christmas House) Himmelpfort and café, the town’s year-round Christmas-themed bed and breakfast next door, is decorated as though it were December all year round, with a museum in the back representing Santa’s abode, from his bed to desk.
“Himmelpfort is very well-known,” said Matthias Paul, manager of the Weihnachtshaus Himmelpfort. “Most people identify (it) with the Christmas activities here.”
Almost every day in the season, children and adults visit from Berlin and surrounding towns. They pose for photos with Santa sitting in his big chair, meet his "angels" and sometimes send letters and packages in colorful Christmas-themed boxes from the functioning post office.
Last week inside the post office, decorated with a tree and wreaths, a group of starry-eyed small children gathered around Father Christmas himself. He pointed to a large map of the world, describing his travels.
“Do you know where Australia is?” Santa asked, noting the home of one of the little boys visiting with his German mother.
As the children made their way to the Christmas House for a slice of Stollen, a German fruit cake traditionally served at Christmas, a woman dressed like Frau Holle, a character from a popular German fairy tale, greeted the group of 4- and 5-year-olds.
“Happiness for these children is shaking Santa’s hand, or to ask him a question and receive a response,” she said. “That’s something they can’t get from a book or CD.”
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