The 500-year old “Bridegroom’s Oak”, situated in the Dodauer forest near Eutin, is said to have matchmaking properties. As a result, the tree receives up to 50 letters daily from lovelorn writers across the globe. The letters are placed in a hollow in the oak’s trunk, and anyone who so wishes can remove a letter and answer it.
The legend dates back to the late 19th century, when a forester’s daughter and the son of a chocolatier fell in love, but the girl’s father disapproved of their relationship. The lovers used the tree to secretly exchange letters, and over time were able to convince their parents to approve the match. The happy couple were married in 1891 and the ceremony naturally took place beneath the branches of their lucky tree.
Since then, over a hundred couples are said to have found love thanks to the oak’s matchmaking, with at least ten resulting in marriage. In 1927, a ladder was placed beside the trunk to make the hollow more accessible, and the postal service started to deliver letters to the tree - a practice which continues today. One man, a former postman who spent two decades delivering letters to the tree - found love himself in the late 1980s after featuring in a TV programme on the legend of the oak. A viewer living nearby wrote to him after seeing him on television, and the two were later married, holding their reception beneath the tree which brought them together.
The tree stands in an ancient part of the forest and has protected status. It also serves as home to many small birds.
