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German Easter Bunny gets 70,000 letters from children

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Deutsche Welle

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The picture shows the city limits sign of Ostereistedt (lit.: " on="" March="" keep="" sending="" letters="" to="" Hanni="" the="" Bunny="" in="" Eastereggtown.="" Carmen="" EPA="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/04/08/20230408-german-easter-bunny-epa_1.jpg"/><figcaption>The picture shows the city limits sign of Ostereistedt (lit.: &#x27;Eastereggtown&#x27;), Germany, on March 27, 2007. Children keep sending letters to Hanni the Bunny in Eastereggtown. <em>Carmen Jaspersen, EPA/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The Easter Bunny in Ostereistedt, northern Germany, once again received tens of thousands of requests from children hoping to have their wishes realized.</p><p>The meaning of Ostereistedt loosely translates to &quot;Easter egg town&quot; in English, and children have been sending their letters there for the past four decades.</p><div><strong>Where did the letters come from?</strong></div><p>According to Deutsche Post, some 70,000 letters were received at the post office in the village some 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Bremen.</p><p>A person dressed as an Easter Bunny was seen delivering the last of the children&#x27;s requests.</p><p>More than a thousand letters came from abroad, from a total of 40 different countries, including Australia and Brazil. Ukrainian children living in Germany because of the conflict back home also wrote to the Easter Bunny.</p><p>The total is actually down 10,000 on last year&#x27;s figure — and well short of a peak of 100,000 in 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic was at its height.</p><div><strong>What did the letters say?</strong></div><p>The tradition aims to encourage children to write letters. In response, Deutsche Post&#x27;s Easter Post Office sends back colorful Easter-themed letters written by a team of volunteers.</p><p>Whether it was peace on earth, cinema tickets or more chocolate, the children were keen to let the bunny know what they wanted this year.</p><p>Some of the Ukrainian children who wrote said they were grateful to live in Germany and had already made friends. Some also mentioned that they wanted to learn German.</p><p>One letter writer, Lola from the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, asked what the Easter Bunny&#x27;s favorite food was. Another, Fynn from the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, wanted to go to the movies with him.</p><p>&quot;With every letter, I see the children&#x27;s eyes light up when they find the answer in the letterbox,&quot; said Doris Kröger, head of the Easter Post Office.</p><div><em>jsi/rc (dpa, KNA)</em></div>

Youngsters wished for chocolate eggs, sent colorful handicraft gifts, and shared their worries with the Easter Bunny.