Inside tiny European village where mail has been delivered by boat for 129 years

NewsWorldEuropeInside tiny European village where mail has been delivered by boat for 129 yearsGerman postal worker delivers around 600 letters and 80 packages every weekKirsten Grieshaber Thursday 30 April 2026 11:42 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"CF1:2967332To1","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/spreewald-forest-lehde-germany-unesco-b2967965.html","title":"Inside the stunning village where mail is delivered by boat"}}open image in gallery{"id":"trigger-autogallery-5462","index":0}Deutsche Post delivery staff member Andrea Bunar manoeuvers her vessel as she makes the season opening delivery tour of the Spreewald barge postal delivery service (AFP/Getty)On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheG...