Lovingly referred to as the Bridegroom’s Oak, this full-sized Oak tree from Germany served centuries as the world’s most romantic post box. This tree is the first to have its own postal address and a postman. A hole high up in the tree’s trunk serves as a post box. And people often looking for love have been writing to the tree, imagining their letter will reach the right person. Surprisingly! Often it does.
The Story Behind The Oak Tree From Germany
The history of the Oak tree revolves around a post box from the late 19th century. As per local stories, the daughter of the head forester fell in love with a chocolate maker living in Leipzig, Wilhelm. However, the head forester (the girl’s father) did not accept the match, but the young lovers still used to leave notes on the tree trunk. Later the father changed his mind, and finally, the couple married under the tree on the 2nd of June 1891.
And since then, the Bridegroom’s Oak tree from Germany has become immensely famous. By 1927, the tree was overwhelmed with mail. The situation was so overpowering that the post office decided to designate the tree with its own mailing address. The post office even set a 10-ft tall ladder up to the mailbox to help people (tourists) climb up, read and respond to love letters at the return address provided. However, there is a rule that if you have opened a letter and have not responded to it, you must put it back for someone else to find and respond.
There is also this popular belief that if a young woman walks around the tree three times under a full moon while thinking of their lover, they will get married within a year.
The Bridegroom’s Oak Tree From Germany On Having A Postman And Itself Getting Married
Located outside the town of Eutin, it was not easy for any postman to deliver the letters to the tree. However, Martens, for 20 years, continued to serve his postman duties. According to him, there were only 10 days in his entire career that the tree had not received any letter. For the highest, he had delivered 50 letters in a day to the tree. In 1984, Martens took up the role of delivering letters to the tree. He found it challenging but still didn’t give up on the delivery task assigned. He had delivered letters from six continents, often in languages he didn’t understand.
In 2009, after 100+ years of bringing people together, the Bridegroom’s Oak was married, symbolically to another chestnut tree (200 years old). The chestnut tree was in Düsseldorf, 503km from Eutin, the living location of the Bridegroom’s Oak tree from Germany. The trees lived like this and continued their happily married life for six years until the chestnut tree suffered some infection and was cut down. Leaving the Oak tree a widow.
The tree continues to live by its legacy and is there for tourists to visit. So if you are planning to be there, you can take up travel tickets and continue with an expedition. Because everyone deserves love and someone to care!
