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Letters to St. Nicholas: What do the children want this year, Mr. Weddehage?

2022-12-06T09:45:16.662Z


Hubert Weddehage, 68, runs the Nikolaus office in Nikolausdorf in the district of Cloppenburg and finds that the approximately 6000 letters from children from all over the world to him and his helpers reveal a lot about our time.


Enlarge image

Hubert Weddehage writes in the name of Santa Claus.

Photo: Mohssen Assanimoghaddam

»Children don't just have wishes during the Christmas season.

They also have many worries and hardships.

I know this because these children confided in Santa Claus - and their letters reached us in our Santa Claus office.

Around 6000 letters from all over the world reach us during the Advent season.

Everyone who writes gets an answer.

Every evening we meet for two to three hours in a small room next to the church and write, fold and stamp.

It's cosy. I have about 20 hard-working helpers here from the village, and someone often brings cookies.

From the letters you can often read how the children in the country are doing.

In the last two years, the children have wished that "the stupid corona virus" would finally go away, we have found this formulation again and again.

They wish they could spend more time with family and friends again.

Some also reported to St. Nicholas that grandma or grandpa had died or that they were seriously ill.

Such children get a very personal answer from Santa Claus.

I hope that even in difficult times we can bring joy to the children - just like the real Saint Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra from the Bible.

This year we expect that the war in Ukraine will play a significant role in the letters.

I have two grandchildren of my own, ages 5 and 8.

They already know what's going on in the world.

The children want peace.

Nikolausdorf, where I live, belongs to the municipality of Garrel in Lower Saxony.

The first letters arrived here in the 1960s.

My father told me that they were addressed to St. Nicholas in Nikolausdorf.

A postal worker then started to answer the letters.

In 1970 my father took over this task, I always helped out.

Today my son is helping.

I very much hope that he will continue to run the Nikolausbüro after me.

Deutsche Post has kindly supported us for many years and donated letterhead and postage.

Even though we’ve found technical devices such as mobile phones and tablets on our wish lists more and more frequently in recent years – dolls and trains always work.«

Source: spiegel

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