The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Thursday, July 30, 2026
A unique tradition in Northern Germany's Dower Forest involves a 500-year-old oak tree, known as the Bridegroom's Oak, which serves as a mailbox for love letters. For nearly a century, postal carriers have delivered letters to a knothole in the tree, with the hope of connecting strangers.
“For decades, people have been mailing love letters to a single tree in the Dowen forest called the Bridegroom's Oak. The hope is that a stranger might read it and maybe even write back.”
“It is the only tree in the world that has its own mailing address.”
“Carl's father's German and his mother is French. But he never knew his mother growing up.”