Nestled in Northern Germany’s Dodau Forest stands a tree with over 130 years of love stories. Known as the “Groom’s Oak” or “Bridegroom Oak,” the tree’s story begins with the forbidden love between a woman named Minna and a chocolatier named Wilhelm. Minna’s father refused to give his blessing for the two to marry, but the star-crossed lovers used the knot in the tree, approximately 9 feet above the ground, to place love letters they wrote to each other. Eventually, Minna's father relented and the two were married right at the tree on June 2, 1891. News of their courtship spread. “Shortly after the wedding, a pub and guesthouse were opened in the nearby forester's lodge,” DHL reported in an article translated from German to English. “Thus, the oak's popularity grew over the years. Many spa guests hiked to the forester's lodge and also visited the [Groom's Oak].”
People began sending their own letters to the tree, and the post office put a ladder there in 1927, Zeit Onlinereported. Eventually the post office created an official address for the tree, putting it on a designated postman’s route. As of 1993, the tree also has its own postal code, and now it receives between 50 and 60 letters every month, hand delivered by postal workers who climb up a ladder now stationed there.
The Bridegroom' Oakcommons.wikimedia.org
Postal workers aren’t the only ones who can access the letters, however–anyone can go up to the knot and take one out at any time, though the postmen themselves are not allowed to open them. Some people even wait for the postal workers to arrive to see what letters are in store for the day. “The only rule,” the BBC shared in 2018, “is that if you open a letter you don’t want to answer, you should place it back in the tree for someone else to find.” People looking for true love, tired of the Internet or even real life, write letters to the tree from all over the world hoping for a fairy tale. It’s possible that some 100 romances have started in that very manner, and at least a marriage or two.
Some of the stories even start similarly to Minna and Wilhelm’s. The Atlanticreported at least one where another set of star-crossed lovers began their affair because of the tree and then had to navigate the turmoil of the Berlin Wall.
The Groom's Oakcommons.wikimedia.org
Another love story even found the tree’s designated postal worker because, well, it was addressed to him. Karl-Heinz Martens had been delivering mail to the tree in the 1980s when eventually he found a letter addressed to himself, The Atlantic reported. Martens had been tasked by the post office to discuss the tree with visitors, and even with press. A woman named Renate had seen him talking about the tree on television, and wrote him a letter of her own and they were married a few years later. While Martens didn’t always believe in the tree’s powers, he changed his mind and remained a believer even after his beloved wife’s passing.
While the tree is visibly aging–it’s some 520 years old, approximately 82 feet high, and some 16 feet around–it remains a popular destination for visitors. And if you want to try your own hand at a wonderfully old-fashioned kind of love story, you can send a letter there yourself. The tree’s official address is: “Bräutigamseiche, Dodauer Forst, 23701 Eutin, Germany.”
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A family makes heart shapes with their hands at sunset
Ketel Marte was brought to tears during an MLB game after facing a shameful fan taunt.
Baseball manager's poignant support for a player brought to tears after shameful fan taunt
Whether they’re expecting perfection from their favorite players or, worse, behaving callously toward opposing teams, sports fans often forget that athletes are human beings. But athletic competition has the ability to unify and uplift, even amid such painful and unpleasant encounters. Take, for example, a major-league baseball game held June 24, 2025 between the home team Chicago White Sox and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
A shameful low point occurred when Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was at bat in the seventh inning. Per ESPN, a fan reportedly yelled out a comment regarding Marte’s late mother, Elpidia Valdez, who died in a 2017 car accident in the Dominican Republic. Team personnel, including manager Torey Lovullo, then requested the 22-year-old fan be ejected. (Though he was remorseful and admitted his actions were inappropriate, according to an ESPN source, he was nonetheless banned indefinitely from all MLB ballparks.) "We commend the White Sox for taking immediate action in removing the fan," the MLB said in a statement. Marte reportedly declined to comment.
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While the fan’s behavior is inexcusable, it did spark a powerful and inspiring moment. After hearing the comment, Marte was visibly upset, prompting Lovullo to walk on the field, put his arm around him, and offer some words of encouragement. "[I said,] 'I love you, and I’m with you, and we’re all together, and you’re not alone,'" Lovullo said in a post-game interview, as documented by The Rich Eisen Show. "'No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you’re heard, that guy is an idiot.’"
According to Arizona Republic, Lovullo heard the fan’s comment but didn’t want to repeat it. “I looked right at [Marte] when I heard,” he said. “I looked right at him, and he looked at the person, as well. He put his head down and I could tell it had an immediate impact on him, for sure."
Elsewhere in the post-game interview, the manager called the moment "terrible" and reflected on why he stood up for Marte. "Fans are nasty, and fans go too far sometimes," he said. "I love my players, and I’m gonna protect them…I’ve known Ketel for nine years. He’s had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships as well and some really tough moments in his life. I know those. At the end of the day, we’re human beings, and we have emotions. I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him."
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The following day, the Chicago White Sox X account sent out a message in support of Marte, writing, "We’re with you" and "Baseball is family." On The Rich Eisen Show, the show's host addressed the need to eradicate this kind of toxic athlete-fan interaction: "I was hearing [people saying], 'There’s no place for this in major league baseball.' There isn’t. There’s no place for this in our society. I understand that people are saying the MLB has got to do something about this. Fans have a right to heckle players—this is something that has happened forever…But there is a line."
In another recent, depressing sports moment with a beautiful coda, let’s look to Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the eventual champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. During the first quarter, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon—a devastating injury that could potentially sideline him for most of the 2025-2026 season. Following the game, in a lovely display of sportsmanship, Thunder point-guard and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went to the Pacers locker room to check on his competitor. In a press conference, he said, "You just hate to see it, in sports in general. But in this moment, my heart dropped for him. I can't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s so unfortunate."
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