Topic by KevinJust for you
FreeWrite to yourself as often as you like – just as you can sit alone by the campfire.
- Letters just for you, no stamp needed
- Draw cards and keep writing for yourself
- Everything stays in “My letters”, on your device
How it works
Quietly, just for you.
You write in your browser, at a desk under the lamp, without an account. What you write stays on your device.
- 1 · A beginning
You find a way in.
The topic of the week, a card from the pile, or simply whatever is on your mind.
- 2 · Writing
Dear Mitmensch,
when did you last take time just for your own thoughts? I only meant to write quickly a few lines.
You write.
With a fountain pen or a typewriter, on the paper you choose. Whatever you delete is crossed out.
- 3 · Sealing
You seal it.
The letter goes into the envelope. A drop of wax, your seal on top.
- 4 · Keeping
It stays with you.
Everything you’ve written lies in “My letters”. Read it again whenever you like.
- No account, right in your browser
- Everything stays on your device
- Free, as often as you like
Topics
One topic a week. Write about it if you like.
The topic is an invitation, not a must. For each one, the matching cards are waiting at the desk.
This weekfrom 19 Oct
A place you want to go back to.
A room, a street, a bench by the water. What was there that you miss today?
This weekfrom 26 Oct
What did you let go of this year?
A habit, a worry, a plan. And what took its place?
This weekfrom 2 Nov
On leaving
A move, a goodbye, a first day somewhere else. What did you take with you?
This weekfrom 9 Nov
Someone who shaped you without knowing it.
A sentence, a gesture, someone at the edge of your life. Whose mark do you carry with you?
This weekfrom 16 Nov
What made you laugh lately.
A mishap, a child, a sentence on the bus. Write it down before it fades.
This weekfrom 23 Nov
A conversation you won’t forget.
With a stranger on a train, with your grandmother, with yourself. What was said?
This weekfrom 30 Nov
Something you wish you had known sooner.
About yourself, about others, about life. Who would you tell today?
This weekfrom 7 Dec
A gift that wasn’t a thing.
An hour of someone’s time, the right sentence at the right moment, a hand on your shoulder.
This weekfrom 14 Dec
How holidays used to be at home.
A smell from the kitchen, a song, an argument at the table. What has stayed?
This weekfrom 21 Dec
Light on dark days.
What does you good when it gets dark early outside.
This weekfrom 28 Dec
What this year showed you.
No report card, no balance sheet. Just a look back before the new one begins.
This weekfrom 4 Jan
A letter to yourself, one year from now.
What do you hope for, where are you now, what should your future self not forget?
Do you have a topic for everyone? Send it to us. We read every suggestion and choose together.
Cards to begin with
When the first sentence won’t come.
There is a stack of cards on the desk. If you don’t know how to begin, draw one and start writing. No one has to, everyone may.
Sample card 1 of 5
Writing card
Tell me about a sound that sounds like home.
Homemitmensch
For you, for your group
Writing for yourself is free. A letter round we shape with you.
A letter round for you
For one week, on your topicOn request
- Your topic and your own cards
- A mailbox of your own, with your name on it
- A stamp we design with you
- Your first letter, the one everyone reads
- Just for you, with an invitation link. Letters arrive without names
- A review in numbers, without content
Letters to a Mitmensch are on their way. If a partner gives away the stamps, the letter is free for everyone.
For your group
How a letter round works.
For one week, on your topic: write, seal, add a stamp, drop it in. On Monday, mail arrives from a Mitmensch in your round.
- 1 · Write
Dear Mitmensch,
when did you last take time just for your own thoughts? I only meant to write quickly a few lines.
You write.
With a fountain pen or a typewriter, on paper of your choice. Whatever you delete gets crossed out.
- 2 · Fold and seal
You seal it.
The letter goes into the envelope. A drop of wax, your seal on top.
- 3 · StampTo a
MitmenschStamp on.
From your album. Every stamp is a small keepsake, and some are only around for a while.
- 4 · Drop it inTo a MitmenschMailboxPost by Sunday, midnightSet up by mitmensch
Into the mailbox.
Post it by Sunday midnight. On Monday the post arrives.
- 5 · OpenFrom a
MitmenschMail for you.
From a Mitmensch, but not the one you wrote to. That way no one owes anyone a reply.
- No names, from one Mitmensch to another
- No contact details in the letter
- Post by Sunday, midnight
- 18 and over
Stamps
Small works of art on their way.
Stamps come with letter rounds: series, stamps that are only around for a while, and stamps of your own for your round, designed with you. Postmarked, they come back to your album as keepsakes.
- Campfiremitmensch
- Pine forestOutdoors
- Moonlit nightNight
- SurfOutdoors
- First snowOutdoors
- October leavesSeasons
- Night trainlimited
- On leavingGuest round
Why letters
A different way of meeting each other.
The format
Time for your own thoughts.
- One delivery a week. Nothing pops up, nothing is waiting for you.
- Writing sorts your thoughts, even when the letter is just for you.
The delivery
Giving without owing anything.
- You write to one person, and someone else writes to you.
- No one chooses, and no one is waiting for your reply.
The encounter
People who would never meet otherwise.
- Across cities, generations and walks of life, and later across borders too.
- No names and no profiles: from one Mitmensch to another.
What we stand for
What holds at the fire holds in every letter.
I write as me,and you write as you.
Read the whole poem
I write as me,and you write as you.
We listen with care,and speak what is true.
We wonder, we ask,before thinking we know.
We honor a boundary,and respect a clear no.
When we get it wrong,we own it, we grow.
We try to return,yet know when to go.
Whatever may come,one thing stays true:
The human in mesees the human in you
For partners
Send mail on its way with us
For everyone who cares about people meeting: companies, clubs, schools, cities and twin-city partnerships, foundations and creators. Your own topic with an invitation letter, a stamp we design together, or stamps you give away so more people write.
Become a partnerFor your group
A letter round just for you.
For one week, you write to each other, without names and with your question: in your team across departments and countries, in your club or your group. Time for each other, and a chance to meet the people behind the roles.
Questions
When can I send letters?
We’re building the delivery right now, and with it the read-over that protects every letter. Until then, you write for yourself, and everything stays in your browser. Groups and partners can already ask for a letter round of their own.
What does it cost?
Writing for yourself is free, and it will stay that way. A letter round for your group is something we shape with you, and the price depends on the scope.
Who do I write to?
To someone you don’t know. After the deadline on Sunday at midnight, the letters are matched to one another, and the post arrives on Monday. No one chooses who writes to whom – neither you nor we.
Do I get mail from the person I wrote to?
No. At the delivery, all letters of the week form a chain: every letter goes on to the next person, never back to its writer. So you write to one person, and someone else writes to you. No one owes anyone a reply.
Will I definitely get a letter?
If there is a second letter by the deadline, yes. If yours is alone in the box, it waits until the next week for company.
Can I reply?
Not at the start. Every letter stands on its own: you write, let go, and receive a different letter back.
How is this different from an email?
An email arrives instantly and is answered quickly. A letter here is slow: you write in peace, seal it, put a stamp on it and drop it in. Delivery happens once a week, to someone you don’t know, without names and without anyone owing a reply. And because there is a stamp on it, you can tell: someone took their time here.
Will anyone find out who I am?
No. Letters come without names: from a Mitmensch, to a Mitmensch. Real names, addresses and contact details don’t belong in them.
Does anyone read along?
We don’t read letters. Before a letter goes out, a program checks it for contact details, insults or threats. You can report any letter you receive. Only then does a person from our side look at it.
How old do I have to be?
18 or older.