It’s Christmas all year round in Drøbak, a charming Norwegian small town located on the sunny side of the Oslofjord, only 30 minutes south of Oslo. This is where Santa Claus has his official Norwegian address and where Christmas mail from all over the world arrives. The fact that he lives in Drøbak is not a whimsy or a claim, it’s actually completely true.
36 years ago, the Norwegian Santa Claus established his mailing address in Drøbak. Since then, children from all over the world have sent their wishes and dreams to the Drøbak Santa, which end up in Santa’s post office in a charming yellow wooden house on Drøbak square.
And with glittering streets, Santa decorations on the house walls, traditional Christmas food, and cozy niche shops, it’s easy to get into the Christmas spirit in the Christmas town of Drøbak. Here you can read more about why Drøbak became the Christmas town of Norway!
With glittering streets, cosy wooden houses and Christmas decorations, it’s easy to get into the Christmas spirit in Drøbak where Santa Claus himself has an…
In 1947, the first Norwegian Christmas tree was sent to Trafalgar Square in London, in thanks for Britain’s help during the Second World War. The BBC excitedly proclaimed that this was proof that Father Christmas came from Norway. This was where all letters to Father Christmas had to be addressed!
This is how the first letters to Father Christmas and Santa Claus, Norway arrived in Oslo. Word spread quickly and over the years more and more consignments arrived at the Oslo Tourist Office in the City Hall. By the end of the 1980s, around 20,000 letters were arriving every year.
Santa at Follo museumChristmas lights in Drøbak city centrePainting of Santa’s post office in Drøbak
Municipal council resolution
In 1989, the chairmanship of Frogn received a Christmas present: could Drøbak become the home of the Norwegian Father Christmas?
The City of Oslo was unable to handle all the Christmas letters. 16,000 letters lay unanswered in Oslo City Hall. Tregaardens Julehus was contacted by the then head of Oslo Promotion. The proposal that Drøbak should take over the Christmas mail was put forward by cultural manager Olav Sandsmark.
The municipal council made a decision on 18 December 1989:
“As far as the chairmanship knows, the Norwegian Santa Claus must be born in Drøbak. Until proven otherwise, this is considered an accepted fact with the consequences this may have in practice.”
Drøbak is the home of the Norwegian Santa Claus
It was a unanimous decision! The confirmation of Santa’s belonging, led to the agreement that it was natural that Santa received all his mail in his own city to his own address “Julenissen, 1440 Drøbak”. Santa’s post office was established in Drøbak in 1990 and since then all letters to Santa have been delivered to the small fjord town.
Where is Drøbaksnissen born?
There are several different stories about where Drøbaksnissen originated. Was it at Skjellerud farm in Nordre Frogn, on Håøya or in Constantinople as the author Hans Petter Treider of the book “Nissen” highlights as three possible theories? Or was it perhaps under a stone slab in Nisseskogen, as Eva Johansen at Tregardens Christmas House thinks?
Stories about Drøbaknissen have been in the vernacular in Frogn long before the time of both the Christmas house and the municipal council decision.
The well-known Drøbak artist Wilhelm Peters drew a postcard from Drøbak with little elves as early as 1914. So Drøbaksnissen has been something that people from Drøbak and Frogn have been interested in for a long, long time. But the elf experts agree that he was born in Drøbak!
Old Christmas card
Tregaardens Christmas House
In what was the city’s former prayer house, the founders Eva and Willy Johansen opened Tregaardens Julehus in 1988. The large yellow wooden house on Drøbak square is filled with Christmas spirit all year round, with little Santa figures, Christmas decorations, Christmas balls and gifts made at “Santa’s famous workshop”. The Christmas house is actually the only year-round Christmas house in the Nordic region and is worth a visit, both in July and at Christmas. Santa’s post office is also located here today.
And for Eva Johansen, who runs Julehuset, Christmas is about tradition, not trend.
Eva Johansen at Julehuset Drøbak
– A lot of people come to visit the Christmas town of Drøbak because it’s so beautiful. Here, visitors get the feeling of an old-fashioned Christmas – we still write all our receipts by hand! When I stand behind the counter at the Christmas house and listen to visitors talk about Christmas and the memories they have, I get a good feeling inside. You can’t sell Christmas spirit online, it’s a feeling,” says Eva Johansen.
“Santa Claus, 1440 Drøbak” is one of four official addresses for Santa Claus in the world. On 20 November 1990, Santa´s Post Office was given official status as a post office by Posten Norway.
The very first Santa Claus stamp was designed by Eva herself and introduced at Christmas 1990. She used Santa’s recognisable riding animal in the design: the Christmas pig. Drøbaksnissen should be popular and Norwegian.
In recent years, Father Christmas has received around 500,000 letters to his postal address, 1440 Drøbak. In our increasingly digital everyday life, this makes our Santa one of the world’s largest mail recipients. Santa is also the only living individual with his own post office.
Over the years, Eva has opened, read and answered letters on behalf of Nissen. For several years, she also had good help from former tourism manager Tom Kristiansen – also known as Nissen’s cousin.
Former tourism manager and Santa’s cousin Tom Kristiansen
Sacks of Christmas mail were kept for a long time at the Tourist Information Centre in Drøbak boat harbour, where Kristiansen gradually looked more and more like his more famous cousin. Especially around Christmas time, with a white beard and red jacket, countless photos were taken with tourists and other travellers.
Santa’s Post Office was previously located in a separate building at Torget 4, but since 2017 it has been in a separate part of Tregaarden’s Christmas House.
You can still get Santa’s stamp on your mail if you go to Santa’s post office. Getting an Santa Claus stamp also meant that the Drøbaknissen was spread around the world and became a beloved object for philatelists and stamp collectors.
Watch a film about Christmas mail here
Drøbak on the map
Without the major marketing forces used in other Santa Claus villages in Finland, Sweden and Alaska, the post office in Drøbak has always been run privately by enthusiasts. In collaboration with the municipality, they have developed a completely unique Christmas village.
This has meant tremendous exposure abroad, and throughout the year visitors come from all parts of the world. There is also no shortage of world press and great visits from representatives from the Rockefeller Centre in New York, Princess Soamsavali from Thailand and Barack Obama’s security service.
Drøbak has also received a lot of media coverage for sending Christmas trees around the world. In 1990 – the year after the fall of the Berlin Wall – Mayor of Frogn Bjørn Loge gave a Christmas tree to Berlin, which became a twin town. For several years, trees were sent to Germany’s capital, and the Christmas tree became a symbol of peace. Frogn has also sent Christmas trees to Osaka, Tokyo and Monaco!
Julehuset’s archive in DrøbakJulehuset’s archive in Drøbak
Santa Claus sign
Then came the idea that Drøbaknissen had to have its own danger sign! The Norwegian Public Roads Administration received an application on 12 March 1991 from the technical department in Frogn municipality for permission to erect a danger sign, and three months later they responded:
“The road office understands that there has been a particularly strong increase in gnomes in Drøbak, we will therefore not oppose the installation of a danger sign with a symbol running gnome with a sack, as applied for … We hope with this that all residents and visitors will be extra vigilant against all other gnomes. We wish all elves, big and small, in Frogn municipality a very happy summer.”
The Santa sign was unveiled in the summer and celebrated with a Christmas party at Drøbak Square, with road manager Svein Fyksen among the guests.
The Santa sign in Drøbak boat harbour
All the Santa books
Several books have been published about both Drøbaksnissen and the Christmas cards that have been sent to Drøbak.
The objective and research-based biography “Santa Claus”, written by Hans Petter Treider, presents findings, observations and eyewitness accounts of Santa’s activities from the Bronze Age right up to recent times. Here it is established once and for all that Santa Claus, and also relatives such as Father Christmas, come from Drøbak.
Other fun books include “Dear Father Christmas” by Birger Sivertsen and “Santa Claus” by Frid Ingulstad and Svein Solem.
Researching the Christmas post – a cultural treasure
For more than 30 years, children and adults from all corners of the world have sent Christmas letters, drawings and wish lists to Father Christmas in Drøbak. They have wished for everything from gifts, changes in their own lives to world peace. The result has been a collection of 70 bags imbued with creativity.
In 2019, the museums in Akershus – MiA – took over more than 2.5 tonnes of Christmas mail from Frogn municipality.
These letters, combined with the corporate archive of The Christmas House, are now being analysed and filed. The project aims to organise, arrange and make available this unique archive, which shows the importance of Christmas and Santa Claus to children (and adults) all over the world. What did 13-year-olds want 30 years ago, and what do they want today? Does a child from China want something different from a child from Germany?
The Christmas cards provide a picture of cultural differences, while at the same time there is unanimous acceptance of the idea of Father Christmas. They also reflect the times we live in and are a cultural treasure that MIA is now researching and preserving.
Christmas letterChristmas letterChristmas letterChristmas letterChristmas letterChristmas letter
The Christmas mail exhibition at Avistegnernes hus
Every year, Avistegnernes hus, which is part of MiA, organises an exhibition with a selection of the year’s Christmas letters. There is a different theme each year. Every year, Avistegnernes hus also creates a new Christmas card, which children can colour and send in the post – completely free of charge.
Christmas letters at Avistegnernes hus
The film proof
No fewer than three films have been produced documenting Santa’s activities and geographical location.
Watch the films that prove that Santa is in Drøbak
