Children in the United States often write to Santa Claus for Christmas. The US Postal Service even has a website to help them do so. It’s the same in Canada. In fact, many countries around the globe have a Santa or Father Christmas letter-writing tradition.

That includes Germany, where children can even write to the Easter Bunny (Osterhase) for Easter as well! But, as usual, it’s not that simple in Germany. German kids (and their parents) must first decide to which “Santa” they want to write! There are three different options.

A map of the seven Santa post offices in Germany. PHOTO: Deutsche Post AG

Depending on their religion, their location, and their personal convictions, children in Germany will want to write to either the Christkind, the Weihnachtsmann, or Saint Nicholas (the saint, not Santa Claus). But that’s not the only decision they have to make.

Step two is deciding to which of Germany’s seven localities they want to send their letter! The first city in Germany (actually West Germany at the time) to offer a Christmas-letter address was Himmelsthür (“heaven’s door”) in 1965. Since then, over the years, six more cities in both eastern and western Germany have jumped on the Santa-writing sleigh. Other Santa cities: Engelskirchen (“angel’s churches”), Himmelpfort (“heaven’s gate”), Himmelpforten (“heaven’s gates”), Himmelstadt (“heaven city”), Nikolausdorf (“Nicholas village”), St. Nikolaus (St. Nicholas). (Note that all of the towns have names related either to angels, heaven, or Nicholas.) So, which of the seven Christmas post offices will it be?

Two of the seven options specialize in letters to St. Nicholas. And because der Nikolaustag (the Feast Day of St. Nicholas Day) is December 6th, those letters need to get in the mail early! For those readers who might not be familiar with the German/Austrian St. Nicholas tradition, a brief overview:

On the night of December 5th children in Bavaria, Austria, and some other locations leave their shoes by the bedroom door or on the windowsill for St. Nicholas to place small gifts inside. Sometimes Nicholas is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, but often he makes no personal appearance, and simply leaves his presents for the children to discover in the morning. (For more, please see the Saint Nicholas link above.)

Now, once the decision is made about whom to write, the next step is to select the appropriate post office. Not every Christmas post office in Germany accepts mail for all of the possible German Santas. That’s why we provide the following list of addresses.

The special Christmas 2024 postmark for Himmelstadt in Bavaria, which focuses on the Christkind. PHOTO: Deutsche Post AG

Christmas Post Offices in Germany

The following towns/post offices accept Christmas postal mail for the Christkind, Weihnachtsmann, or St. Nicholas. Note that most locations accept letters addressed only to one or two of the German Santas. This is noted in the list below. Each site has a link for more information, but usually in German only. If you are writing from outside of Germany, you need to add “Germany” to the address shown, use the proper international postage stamp, and allow time for the letter to get to Germany.

1. Himmelpfort (Brandenburg, former GDR)

An den Weihnachtsmann
Weihnachtspostfiliale
16798 Himmelpfort

2. Himmelsthür (Niedersachsen/Lower Saxony)*

An den Weihnachtsmann
Himmelsthür
31117 Hildesheim

*Note: Himmelsthür has been known for more than 30 years for its “heavenly” Christmas post office. It was the first of its kind in all of Germany. So imagine the shock and frustration when German postal authorities announced its closing, disregarding protests from all over Germany! (Part of the reason was that Himmelsthür is now a district of the city of Hildesheim.) However, letters to the Weihnachtsmann are still accepted at the new Himmelsthür/Hildesheim address listed above.

3. Himmelspforten (Niedersachsen/Lower Saxony)

An das Christkind
Poststraße 2
21709 Himmelspforten

4. Engelskirchen (NRW/North Rhine-Westphalia, 25 miles east of Cologne)

An das Christkind
51777 Engelskirchen

5. Himmelstadt (Bayern/Bavaria)

An das Christkind
97267 Himmelstadt

6. Nikolausdorf (Niedersachsen/Lower Saxony)

An den Nikolaus
49681 Nikolausdorf

7. St. Nikolaus (Saarland)

An den Nikolaus
Nikolausplatz
66351 St. Nikolaus

Caution!
When you send your letter to Santa in Germany, try to avoid two common mistakes that some letter-writers make, as noted by the volunteer elves who spend time helping Santa write and send his replies to children.

• Not including your name and return address. (No, Santa does not automatically know where you live!)
• Not writing within the deadline. Most Santa post offices require that letters arrive no later than 10 to 15 days prior to Christmas Eve, but check with your chosen Christmas post office. For Nicholas letters the deadline is earlier, but in some cases they also answer letters during Advent.

The ‘Hidden’ Santa Post Office
One other Christmas post office should be mentioned here. Eastern Germany’s Himmelsberg (“heaven mountain”) post office receives letters to Santa from Germany and many foreign countries.

Himmelsberg (Thüringen/Thuringia, former GDR)

An den Weihnachtsmann
Zum Backhaus
99706 Himmelsberg (Sondershausen)

Note: Although Himmelsberg is actually a part of the eastern German town of Sondershausen (about 65 km/40 mi north of Erfurt), it has been a Christmas post office since 1994. Himmelsberg annually receives about 6,500 letters addressed to the Weihnachtsmann, but is not included in the Deutsche Post list of seven German Christkind/Weihnachtsmann addresses. It would be the eighth.

For Stamp Collectors
If you only (or also) want to obtain a special commemorative Christmas/Santa postage stamp cancellation, there is a special Deutsche Post AG address for that:

(Via letter)
Deutsche Post AG
NL BRIEF Berlin 1
Sonderstempelstelle
11508 Berlin

(Via package delivery)
Deutsche Post AG
NL BRIEF Berlin 1
Eresburgstr. 21
12103 Berlin

Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten!