Photo Gallery Writing To Santa
German children have been sending letters to Santa Claus for several decades now. Volunteers at special Christmas post offices write back to tens of thousands of kids each year. Here, Santa Claus makes a personal visit to the opening of the special Christmas post office in Himmelpfort in 2009, which received 280,000 Christmas letters last year.
A special Christmas stamp issued in Germany in December 2010: Special Christmas post offices are only open during specific months, usually from early November until late December.
This special Christmas stamp was also issued in December 2010.
Around 620,000 letters to Santa are written every year in Germany.
All of the temporary Christmas post offices are staffed by volunteers, who write back to children. Here, men dressed as Santa Claus head to an annual Santa Claus convention in Berlin in November 2010.
Deutsche Post is expanding its support of Christmas letter writers. But, unlike in the US or France, Father Christmas in Germany won't be going online any time soon: Only traditional letters are replied to.
