Letters to Hanni Hase or Olli Osterhase + Easter Place Names

Writing to the Easter Bunny seems to be pretty much a German thing. Since the Easter Bunny is German, that seems logical. The only other major non-German Easter Bunny postal custom we have been able to track down is related to Chile’s Easter Island, the purported home of the Easter Bunny and 7,750 human residents (2017). Besides its famous towering moai statues, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is also known for its Hanga Roa post office, which receives letters addressed to:

The Easter Bunny (el conejito de Pascua)
Easter Island Post Office
Hanga Roa
Isla de Pascua (Easter Island/Rapa Nui)
Chile

Most of the Easter Island letters have postmarks from English-speaking countries, but the young senders are from all around the globe. It seems many postmasters believe Easter Island is the correct destination. Visitors to the extremely remote island (2,180 mi [3,510 km] west of mainland Chile) are encouraged to adopt Easter Bunny letters on display, and write a reply to be posted with an Easter Island postmark. But, other than its name[*], this tiny volcanic island five hours by jetliner from Santiago, Chile in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean seems less than ideal for Easter Bunny headquarters.

NOTE: Unlike with letters to Santa Claus, the US Postal Service (USPS) has no formal system for dealing with letters to the Easter Bunny. A US letter to the Easter Bunny may or may not reach Easter Island. But with the correct address you can always send it to Germany for the same international postage rate.

“Happy Easter!” An 1899 German Easter postcard displaying signposts pointing to the towns of “Osterhausen” and “Hasenheim.” The German custom of sending an Easter postcard (Osterpostkarte) to family and friends dates back to ca. 1895, becoming common practice after 1900. PHOTO: Public Domain

But letters from German children to the Easter Bunny don’t even have to leave Germany. Here are three Easter Bunny post offices in Germany:

1. Ostereistedt and Hanni Hase, the Most Popular Easter Bunny Post Office
The most popular and oldest German Easter Bunny post office, in Ostereistedt (“Easter Egg Town”), a small community northeast of Bremen in Lower Saxony, received almost 60,000 missives to “Hanni Hase” (Johnny Hare) in 2021. Many of those letters came from other countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and Taiwan. (The Covid-19 pandemic almost doubled the amount of mail that Hanni previously received!) The Ostereistedt Easter postal service began in 1982 as part of the “Schreib mal wieder!” (“Write again soon!”/”Stay in touch!”) ad campaign by the West German postal service, then the Deutsche Bundespost (1947-1995). (Today’s slogan is: “Jeder Brief ist ein Geschenk.” = “Every letter is a gift.”)

Also see German Place Names with Easter Terms in Them below.

As with all of the Easter Bunny post offices in Germany, a team of volunteers in Ostereistedt answers all of the letters, as long as they have a return address. What began in the 1980s as a modest promotional attempt has now expanded into a major annual project. Children (and senior citizens) send requests and greetings to the Easter Bunny, often with drawings or special hand-made cards. Today there are at least three Easter Bunny post offices in Germany. In addition to Ostereistedt, there are two more Osterhasenpostämter:

2. Olli Osterhase and Lotti Langohr in Seifhennersdorf
The Easter Bunny letter-writing program got its start in Eibau in 2005 (part of Kottmar since 2013) with a special Easter letterbox. But Olli and Lotti later moved to Seifhennersdorf in Saxony’s Oberlausitz region. Now they could get help from the employees at the “Querxenland” youth center in Seifhennersdorf. (Querxe are legendary, mischievous gnome-like figures in the mythology of the Oberlausitz region.) Around Easter, Olli and his wife Lotti can be seen “in person” at their “Osterhasenbau” cottage and workshop. Today the Easter Bunny in Seifhennersdorf receives mail from Germany and foreign nations such as Denmark, Switzerland, the USA, Japan, Spain, Norway, and others.

3. The Osterhasenpostamt in Osterhausen (Eisleben)
The most recent Osterpostamt began in the Osterhausen community in the Lutherstadt Eisleben (Sachsen-Anhalt) in 2014 as part of local nursery school’s program. Teachers at the “Gänseblümchen” (daisy) Kita first set up the program with a special mailbox for the Easter Bunny. Now there is also a Facebook page, and letters also arrive from outside of Germany, in growing numbers that now require more volunteers. Also appreciated: postage stamps to cover the cost of sending replies, but it’s not required. Children can also meet the Easter Bunny during the local Easter market in Rothenschirmbach, when a teacher in a bunny costume is present.

See the mailing addresses for the three Osterhase post offices below.

A Facebook post pointing out that two of the three German Easter Bunny post offices are in what was formerly central East Germany (Mitteldeutschland). The third one, not listed, is Ostereistedt near Bremen, the oldest and most popular. PHOTO: MDR JUMP – Facebook

Anschriften für Briefe an den Osterhasen
Addresses for writing letters to the Easter Bunny in Germany. Below are the three different German postal addresses for sending a letter to the Easter Bunny (full descriptions above). Try to write early, but no later than a week before Good Friday (Karfreitag) if possible. If you want a response, make sure you write legibly and include your full return address.

Hanni Hase
Am Waldrand 12
27404 Ostereistedt
Germany

Olli Osterhase
Oberlausitzer Osterhasenpostamt
Viebigstraße 1
02782 Seifhennersdorf
Germany

An den Osterhasen
Siedlungstraße 2
06295 Osterhausen (Lutherstadt Eisleben)
Germany

Also see German Place Names with Easter Terms in Them below.

Munich’s unusual Center for Unusual Museums (Zentrum für Außergewöhnliche Museen, ZAM) was perhaps too unusual. It permanently closed its doors in June 2005. But among its collection of eight out-of-the-ordinary museums, was the Easter Bunny Museum, with over 2,000 bunnies, some of which are seen here. Collector Manfred Klauda (1936-2000) had opened ZAM in 1990. PHOTO: Jerzy Kociatkiewicz (Wikimedia Commons)

*Easter Island, only 64 square miles in area, was named by a Dutch explorer. Jacob Roggeveen dubbed the island Paasch-Eyland (18th-century Dutch for “Easter Island”; Paaseiland in modern Dutch) when he encountered it on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1722. Roggeveen’s three-ship expedition in the Pacific was considered a failure. After a mutiny, the loss of a ship at sea, and having his remaining ships confiscated by the East India Company in what is now Indonesia, Roggeveen was briefly imprisoned before returning home in disgrace. The native inhabitants still call their home Rapa Nui.

German Place Names with Easter Terms in Them

There are quite a few places in Germany with the German word for Easter, egg, or bunny/rabbit/hare in their names. Very few of them have an Easter Bunny post office. Most of them are small communities. Many “Oster/Ostern” places have more to do with the compass direction than Easter. Listed in alphabetical order.

Hasenbüren (Bremen) – Hasenbüren, Mittelsbüren, and Niederbüren were all villages in the Territory of Bremen in the 17th century. Hasenbüren was founded in 1319. The village name survives today in Bremen’s Sportboothafen Hasenbüren, a yacht harbor on the Weser River, and the highway called the Hasenbürener Landstraße that leads to the Bremer Yacht Club at the harbor (shared by five sailing clubs).

Hasenhäge (Mecklenburg-Vorpommeren) – The town’s name comes from the fact that there were many rabbits/hares in the area, and there still are.

Hasenwinkel (Mecklenburg-Vorpommeren) – Literally “hare corner” or “hare spot.” Hasenwinkel is part of the town of Bibow.

Ober-Ostern (Hessen) – For more than 20 years the “Upper Easter” section of Reichelsheim has had a giant wooden Easter bunny that goes on display during the Easter weekend. The hand-painted 12-meter tall figure has movable arms and legs, and is in the Guinness World Records. It is also the main attraction of the town’s Easter market.

Osterberg (Bayern) – A small town in Swabia in the district of Neu-Ulm that dates back to the 15th century. “Easter mountain.”

Osterburg (Sachsen-Anhalt) – The Hansestadt Osterburg (Altmark) has no real Easter connection. The name “castle in the east” probably refers an actual castle that once stood in the area in the 10th century.

Osterburken (Baden-Württemberg) – A good example of a place with no real connection to Easter. The name arose in the Middle Ages to distinguish East (Ost) Burken from the nearby town of Neckarburken to the west. Osterburken also has no special events for Easter/Ostern.

Ostereistedt (Niedersachsen) – With its “Easter Egg Town” name, why wouldn’t Ostereistedt be Germany’s most popular post office for letters to the Osterhase? Ostereistedt is a small community northeast of Bremen in Lower Saxony. See more above.

Osterhausen (Eisleben) (Sachsen-Anhalt) – Home to one of the German Easter Bunny post offices (above). Since 2009 the former two villages of Klein- and Großosterhausen (“Small and Big Easterville”) have been part of the city of Eisleben (2020 pop. 22,668), where the German religious reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) was born and died.

Ostern (Bayern) – This small section of the Allgäu town of Halblech only has about 20 residents. There’s a small chapel, some farms, and a few houses. Situated in a scenic, hilly area with a view of the Alps, it’s easy to imagine that the Easter Bunny could seen hopping around the town. But despite its name, Ostern has no special events for Easter.

Also see: The Easter Bunny is German

More | The Easter Bunny is German
More | Holidays and Celebrations

Related Pages
AT THE GERMAN WAY

• Easter and Other Movable Feasts in Austria, Germany and Switzerland
• History of Germany – A summary of German history from the 9th century to the present
• History & Culture – Austria, Germany and Switzerland
• Cultural Comparisons: The USA and Germany – Comparison charts