Delivery Workers Biking to Lapland to Assist Santa Claus
In August 2025, three postal workers from St. Nikolaus, Germany, set off on an extraordinary bicycle journey towards Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland. Spanning nearly 3,000 kilometres (about 1,860 miles), the route takes them through Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and finally, Finland.
The primary purpose of this journey is to symbolically deliver letters and Christmas wish lists from children, a tradition that dates back to 1967. As part of the German postal service’s volunteer team, these cyclists have been responding to these heartfelt letters from children worldwide. This year, they carry a special wish list from St. Nikolaus himself, hoping for a reply from Santa Claus in Finland.
The journey begins at the St. Nikolaus post office in Germany and ends at the Santa Claus post office in Rovaniemi, Finland, a location renowned as Santa Claus Village, situated near the Arctic Circle. Along the way, the postal workers plan to visit postal branches in Bremen and Hamburg to collect more wish lists.
Nehring, Artur Hajduk, and Ralf Schuettler are the postal workers embarking on this adventure. They met while competing for the national postal cycling team and have previously completed an extreme tour from the Spreewald to Venice. Their bicycles, two yellow postal bicycles and one mountain bike, are devoid of electric motors, making the journey even more challenging.
The postal workers plan to ride mainly on country roads, covering approximately 200 to 250 kilometres each day. A support vehicle will accompany them, carrying clothing, tools, and spare parts. The journey's first stop is Ruesselsheim.
The Saarland Nikolaus is particularly excited about this unusual summer assignment. Last winter, his volunteer team at the Nikolaus post office in St. Nikolaus answered over 33,000 children's letters from around the world. He hopes that Santa Claus responds to his own letter this year.
The postal workers aim to reach their destination by the end of August. Once there, they will have covered nearly 3,000 kilometres on their bicycles, not only delivering Christmas wishes but also raising funds for the "Bunter Kreis Hagen" association, which supports families with seriously ill children.
Despite their previous achievements as part of the national postal cycling team, the upcoming bicycle journey of Nehring, Artur Hajduk, and Ralf Schuettler is especially unique. Not only will they deliver Christmas wishes, but they will also engage in sports analysis, comparing their performance to their earlier tour from the Spreewald to Venice.
Upon their return to St. Nikolaus, the postal workers hope to share stories about their journey with their families, reflecting on the traditions they upheld while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of sports endurance.
