The bridegroom oak is the only tree which has its own postal address and regular mail delivery from the post office.
As the story goes, it all began around 1891, when a forester's daughter fell in love. The girl's father disapproved of the young man. To maintain contact, the two secretly exchanged love letters via a hole in the tree. Eventually the father grudgingly agreed to the marriage.
To make new friends, local people started leaving notes in the hole, describing themselves and the sort of friends they were seeking. One could reach in and pull a note from the hole, read it and follow up if interested, simply return it if not.
Today the tree is primarily used for finding pen pals, but it is said that correspondence via the bridegroom oak has resulted in more than one hundred marriages. One can send a letter by post, or drive over and put a letter into the hole. Since 1927 the post office has delivered mail to this oak. The tree receives up to 40 letters daily, on average 1,000 annually. Anybody may reach in and read the letters, and return them or take the ones that they find interesting away with them.
Bräutigamseiche
Dodauer Forst
23701 Eutin (Deutschland)