Postcrossing Blog

Sometime ago, we stumbled on this unexpected topic on the forum, where postcrosser Meowpurr tells her adventures of mailing postcards from the deepest postbox in Germany… so of course, we were intrigued and wanted to bring it over to the blog, so that more of you learned about it. Here she is, ready to take us all along on a dive into the deep unknown!

"As someone who loves both postcards and the underwater world, you guys can imagine I’m thrilled to announce that… Germany finally has its own underwater mailbox!

It’s 19 meters deep inside Kreidesee Hemmoor, a lake north of Hamburg, and a genuine Divers’ Disneyland. The water is very clear (for a lake 😉), the lake is ~60m deep, full of things to explore underwater, and it’s only open for divers — no regular swimming allowed! 19 meters deep makes the mailbox significantly deeper than this wonderful place I can’t wait to visit too.

A little over a week ago, a freediving festival took place at the lake, and this is why I was there too. Not knowing anything about the new mailbox, I was busy from mornings to evenings doing workshops, making new friends… Doing regular things like repairing cars…

… when a diving friend from Berlin texted me that the lake’s Facebook account had just posted the glorious news! I don’t remember ever letting him know about my postcard shenanigans, so I guess I must have given him a drunk post-dive speech about postcards and stamps (I guess you all know what it’s like). Well, good thing I did! I started my little side quest to find the mailbox, and tadaaa:

It even states the collection time (“weekly”), tells us that waterproof postcards can be bought at the reception, and that it’s Germany’s deepest mailbox:

The next side quest began because my tight festival schedule hardly allowed me to visit the reception with its constant queue of arriving scuba divers (but of course I made it happen ), and because said reception had screwed up buying waterproof pens for their waterproof postcards! I tested the one they sold me in the sink: came off straight away 😱 They did have a thick green one I could borrow – good enough, but I was so relieved the addresses I drew didn’t have a delicate script like Chinese!

By the time I mailed the cards on the last festival day my legs felt completely useless and I was frozen – it was those cold days in the midst of the heat wave, with only 22°C air temperature and only 12°C in the 20m depth region. Mailing those cards was the very last thing I did before literally breaking down.

The card itself is posted without the stamp, so the diving mail carriers (?) attach it themselves. Of course I reminded the receptionist that international mail requires more postage than national, haha, postcrossers’ paranoia… Would have loved to see their faces when they saw one of their first postcards is going all the way to Vietnam!

Now, this is the card:

And this is it, Postcrossing reaching new depths! 🎉

And there’s a happy ending too: the first card arrived! I can’t wait to go back and mail some more, and I hope I get to spot some more underwater mail on people’s walls!"

Good news! More recently, Meowpurr went back to the lake armed with a few waterproof pens and wrote some more postcards, which have also arrived. At €6 per postcard, this is not a cheap endeavor… but a fun one, for sure! 🤿

Did you notice that the 2023 campaign of Cards for Literacy with Deutsche Post had one extra day for postcards to arrive this year? 😍 While a single day might not make a huge difference*, all of these postcards together are undoubtedly going to have a meaningful impact in a lot of people’s lives! Here’s how the campaign went this year:

What a great result this is! Well done, everyone! There’s so much promise in these numbers… so much good that can come from improving a person’s reading skills — and thus their whole outlook in life!

As always, a huge thank you to Deutsche Post, for partnering with the Postcrossing community and making this possible. We’ve now been running this campaign together for 11 years, if you can believe it, helping fun Stiftung Lesen on their various programs and research projects. We usually think of children when we think of reading problems, but did you know that there are about 6,2 million adults in Germany who cannot read properly? It’s hard to overstate how important this skill is in everyday life — from progressing in a career to living an independent life, it all starts with reading. So it’s important that those who need help improving their reading skills can receive it, and Stiftung Lesen and its partners are there to help.

And now, to wrap things up, Paulo run his script and randomly choose 6 winners to receive vouchers for the Deutsche Post shop. The winner of the big €100 voucher is Feuermaus99, and the five winners of the €50 vouchers are kuchenfee, Tazzdevil, Thekilein, Kamila_Dawid and Morle-Maus .Congratulations! 🎉 You’ll receive an email from us shortly!

(*) 140 postcards were registered on February 29, so not that few! 😊

In the spirit of mail sometimes taking the scenic route to their destinations, this blog post is a little late… but as they say, better late than never! It’s been a while since the Little Mail Carriers made a visit to Patricia (Angelthecat) in Germany, which they did in time for World Postcard Day in 2021. We’ve been keeping this delightful blog post from you since then, so let’s waste no more time and let them tell you all about their adventures and the many postcrossers they met along the way…

Hello all, this time we travelled to Franconia. Patricia (aka Angelthecat) hosted us for some time and showed us some really wonderful places together with Manuela (Manu86), Antje (KiwiAngie), Verena (vvsmurfy) and Tanja (Gaiasduhter).

We started at Herzogenaurach.

The town with approximately 24,000 inhabitants is situated about 25 kilometers north-west of Nuremberg and is especially known in the world of sports. Herzogenaurach is for example the home of Adidas, one of the leading sportsware producers worldwide. The history of manufacturing sports’ shoes started in the 1920s. In 1924, the first firm was registered and named “Dassler Schuhfabrik”. When the brothers Dassler split up after WWII, Adolf Dassler established his firm today known as “Adidas AG” in 1949. The firm’s name is an acronym made of the Adolf Dassler’s nickname “Adi” and the first three letters of his last name. The Adidas soccer shoes became worldwide attention with the “wonder of Bern”, when the German national soccer team wore shoes with three stripes and innovative soccer cleats when winning the World Cup in 1954.

After a long city stroll, we were really hungry in the evening, and therefore got invited to try a typical dish of the region: The Aischkarpfen (carp from the river Aisch). Very yummy!

Of course, we also took some time to write some postcards and prepare for World Postcard Day!

The next day it continued: On October 2nd, 2021, there was a Postcrossing meet-up in Ansbach. It was wonderful again.

The name “Ansbach” has its origin probably in an inflow of the river Rezat, called “Onoldsbach”. In the year 748, a monastery was founded in its estuary, the roots of the later town Ansbach. It was mentioned on a document in 1221 for the very first time. This means we got here on time for its 800th jubilee – great!

When walking through the town, we noticed that there are also other funny statues, like this man with a suitcase:

And we took a look at the Saint Gumbertus church in Ansbach:

We also highly recommend visiting the castle garden in Ansbach. It’s beautiful!

And of course, we helped with writing postcards again afterwards…

After a long day, we needed a good rest, but the next week we went to explore Nuremberg, the home of Angelthecat and Gaiasduhter! First of all, we climbed the castle hill, and were able to enjoy the beautiful view over the city.

It’s not very clear when Nuremberg was founded. It was mentioned the first time in a document called the “Sigena Urkunde” issued by emperor Henry III in 1050. Probably there were some smaller settlements as well as a castle. This castle became an imperial seat and was soon important for the whole empire of that time. In 1219, Nuremberg was acknowledged as a free imperial city by Frederick II. Today, Nuremberg is known for toys, gingerbread and the world famous “Christkindlesmarkt” (Christchild’s Fair). Nuremberg was also the stronghold of manufacturing pencils!

We also discovered something very cool, and exactly the right size for us: a model of the Nuremberg castle and the city area of that time!

Of course, we also visited the famous Nuremberg painter, graphic artist, mathematician and art theorist Albrecht Dürer. Maybe you even already received a postcard with one of his works? World famous are the “Young Hare” or the “Praying Hands”.

We even ran into him in person (sort of)…

After that, we visited the main market square (Hauptmarkt). The “Frauenkirche” (Church of our Lady) on the main market square was built by emperor Charles in the time of 1352 to 1362. It is known internationally for its so called “Männleinlaufen” (a mechanical clock that commemorates the Golden Bull of 1356). Every day at noon, 7 electors come from the right door, go towards the emperor, and turn to him. The figure of the emperor welcomes them with his scepter—it’s a bit complicated to explain, but wonderful to see: there’s a video here on Youtube that lets you catch a glimpse!).

We also visited the Beautiful Fountain. It was built in 1396 and is situated at the main market next to the town’s hall. Its height is about 19 meters. It is known for its story of the brass ring:

“Master Kuhn, who built the lattice fence around the fountain, had a daughter named Margret, who was adored by the apprentice. As the Master did not want to give his child to a poor man, he prohibited the relationship and threw him out. It is said that Kuhn told the apprentice that he would not get his daughter the same way the young man wouldn’t be able to make rings turning around at the fountain’s lattice fence. When the Master travelled, the apprentice secretly made the rings, to prove his skills. Then he cut the rings and put them to the lattice and hammered and filed until the seams could not be seen anymore. Then he left the town and never came back. When Kuhn was back home, he recognized that he was too strict. But it was too late, and Margret was in tears. One of the rings is seen as a lucky charm. The legend tells that those who touch and turn the ring, will be blessed with children. Most of the tourists think that the ring made of brass is the lucky charm, but lot of people from Nuremberg think that the “real ring” is the one made of iron, and therefore is the lucky charm.”

Before we go on with our trip, we have to relax a bit at the “Museumsbrücke” (museum’s bridge) with view to the Heilig-Geist-Spital (Holy Spirit Hospital):

The “Heilig-Geist-Spital”, often simply called “HeiGei” by Nuremberg locals, was used to care for the sick and old of the imperial city. The hospital was donated by the richest citizen of that time, Konrad Gross. Still today it is used as a retirement home. The Heilig-Geist-Spital is also the place where the imperial insignia were kept in Nuremberg from 1424 to 1796.

Before we went back to our host’s home, we enjoyed the view over the city again, this time towards the castle:

We really enjoyed the time in Nuremberg very much and in case we will get the chance to come here again, we definitely want to eat gingerbread. They are simply a must to eat at Christmas time. Maybe together with our new friends? But for now, we’re on our way once more…

Thank you for hosting the Little Mail Carriers, Patricia, and thanks also to all the postcrossers who spent time with them for welcoming them so warmly!

Since their time in Franconia, they’ve had several other adventures—but that’s a story for another day…

It’s that joyous time again — the season when Postcrossing postcards become beacons of hope and support! This year, we’re thrilled to mark the 11th anniversary of our cherished collaboration with Deutsche Post. A whole decade plus one has zipped by, during which many people in Germany have honed their literacy skills with the help of our united efforts. Hurray!

For our seasoned postcrossers, this will be a familiar recap, but let’s bring our new members up to speed:

That’s the essence of it! If you’re in Germany, now is the perfect moment to stack up on postcards and stamps to be ready for the month ahead. Once December arrives, every card you send within the month (and is received by the end of February 2024, which next year has one extra day!) will contribute to this noble cause. But wait, there’s more – your postcards could also be your ticket to winning these nice prizes:

• 1 voucher worth €100, to use in Deutsche Post Online Shop
• 5 vouchers worth €50 each, to use in Deutsche Post Online Shop

The more postcards you send, the more you contribute, boosting your chances to snag a voucher for Deutsche Post’s goodies. In March 2024, Paulo will set his random number generator in motion, and we’ll announce the total number of postcards sent and funds raised for Stiftung Lesen in a blog post. Last year, we raised an astounding €12,359.60!

What if you’re not in Germany? You’re still a vital part of this campaign! Simply register the postcards landing in your mailbox promptly. As waves of postcards from Germany journey across the globe, your quick registration helps the sender mail another card sooner.

Stiftung Lesen, a German non-profit, is dedicated to improving literacy, focusing on children, adolescents, and assisting refugee families in learning German. These fundamental skills are often taken for granted, but they can be transformative for those who struggle with them. We’re proud to support their invaluable work.

We invite you to join the 11th “Cards for Literacy” campaign, sharing our enthusiasm to make a difference with our postcards!

P.S. – Postcrossing respects your personal information and will not share it with any company without your explicit permission. The full details of this campaign can be read here (German only).

And so, the 10th edition of our Cards for Literacy campaign with Deutsche Post comes to an end, and here we are to let you know how many postcards were sent for this good cause in 2022. Without further ado…

Hurray! A brilliant result, which will help many people improve their reading skills in Germany, and thus improve their outcomes in areas like education, professional success, and integration. Well done to all our enthusiastic German members, and also to all the recipients of these postcards, who welcome them with open arms mailboxes!

Our heartfelt thank you to Deutsche Post, for partnering with the Postcrossing community and making this possible. Being a non-profit organization, funding is super important for Stiftung Lesen to run their various programs, but also to do research into different aspects of literacy! For instance, they’re trying to answer big questions like, how are reading behaviors affected by different media, and whether teenagers read differently than adults. It’s by studying these issues that they’re able to make policy recommendations, that in turn contribute to sustainable social development.

And as always at the end of the campaign, Paulo runs his magical script to randomly choose the recipients of vouchers for the Deutsche Post shop. If you’re in Germany and sent at least one postcard last December, keep an eye on your inbox for a message from Postcrossing soon. You might be one of our winners!