I have a standard letter box with a lockable bit for letters, and a larger area below for parcels and such, with an unlocked door.

Whenever I check my post, I'm in the habit of moving all the free papers and unaddressed junk mail from the top locked part into the open bit at the bottom, for disposal at a later date. Today I checked the box to find all these free papers and junk mails had been removed by persons unknown.

What would they want with it all? Guerrilla recyclers, or nefarious ID thieves? Not so much worried as puzzled.

Hi

I had the same thing happen to me. It turned out when my neighbour was preparing her junk mail to be collected for recycling she would take my stuff too. I caught her doing it once or twice and she told me not to worry, if it has my name on it or its an advertisement for something she thinks I'd like she puts it in my main letterbox. Is it possible you have a helpful neighbour like this?

I am the Hauswart for our house ("Janitor"?). and in the list of duties it says that I must empty mail that has built up in the letterboxes..
I assume thats what the people were doing...

Could well be, but why are they looking in there? Bit nosey if you ask me.

It's not happened before, sometimes it builds up for months before I empty it, I'm kind of lazy like that..

Look at it differently, with the recent burglary thread in mind.
Having the mail box overflowing with junkmail or in your case the lower part ( Päcklichaste/milchkaste) could indicate and a quickly glance only that there is no one home and maybe absent for some time..........................

mh, that isnt the case, because some stuff is addressed so its obvious i have put it there. its a bit risky to assume this, my place is ready for a burglary only by ad-shit n flyers lying around. well, from my bigger box no one removes a thing. i put my stuff the other morning in one of the piles when the bundled paper piles are placed at the sidewalk from/by my neighbours.

but its funny that its the abwarts duty to take care of this and its a bit nosey, i think so too.

No one should be touching your letterbox apart from the postman. Don't nosey neighbours have anything better to do? Like wasting time online

Yep RR, you are right !

I mean I am landlady cum janitor here,but i only empty our tenants post box when they give me the key and explicitly ask me to do so whilst their absence!

This does not belong onto a janitors normal to do list!!!!

As some has suggested, I would guess that it is a helpfull neighbour, hauswart or even the mailman or paper-guy who doesn't want you to get robbed. The paper-delivery guys e.g. are instructed to stop delivering the paper if it is not picked up for more than 5 days in a row I believe.

Mmmmm. Having a neighbour rummaging through my letterbox doesn't come under the "helpful" category as far as I'm concerned.

Time to add a giant spring-loaded rubber toy spider in your mail box methinks..

Or a trip wire and one of those grenades that you can pick up from the military

One of these chaps? I love the instructions...

I would be a bit miffed if someone was going through my post box. We have one the same as yours and I tend to leave the free papers in it until I have a pile big enough to tie with string for the newspaper collection. Completly off topic, but can you put something on your box rejecting the free newspapers. I actually saw the boy who was putting them in yesterday. I asked him if I could stop having it, bless him, he said I would never know what was going on if I didn't get one. I pointed out that I never even take them out of the box so I don't know anyway. He looked sympathetically at me as he walked awayI was pitied by a 12 year old

pwned

PWND. I know I am getting on a bit, but I've never seen that abbreviation for anything

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwned

Neither have I, it sounds like some sad UNIX command abbreviation favoured by those that cant conduct a normal conversation.

dave

How about sticking a temporary note on the box-

"Whoever is emptying the letterbox should stop doing it as it's none of your business. This is my precious PRIVATE letterbox! Play with your own letterbox."

I am sure someone here will provide a nice German translation.