Alte Posthalterei Melle

The oldest building in the city, dating back to 1644, can look back on a rich history.

The building, now known as the "Alte Posthalterei", is one of the few old houses to have survived the Melle fire of 1720, which reduced two thirds of Melle to rubble, causing hardship and misery for many and leaving around 500 people temporarily homeless.

Built in 1644 as a simple farmhouse with simple half-timbered gables, the house is a four-storey building designed by Edewin Plohr and Agnes Bening, as can be seen from the beams above the plank door. The house survived the fire in Melle in 1720 and in the 18th century, when there was no longer enough space after the fire, it was given two bay-shaped porches on the front side facing Haferstraße. At the beginning of the 19th century (French period) it was used as a post office. Over the course of time, the owner changed several times and with it the Kramer stores on the first floor.

In 1986, the town of Melle bought the listed building. The impetus for the renovation came from the Kreissparkasse Melle, which donated 500,000 DM for the renovation of the culturally and historically valuable building in 1986. The state of Lower Saxony also provided funds to renovate the building into a cultural site, a "House of Encounter".
The house was completed in 1988. Now the search was on for a memorable name. The name chosen was "Alte Posthalterei". This building is said to have housed the Melle post office for decades - unfortunately, exact dates are not available. The duties of the postmaster were assigned by the ruling authority and included the right to receive and issue letters or parcels for the post office, the duty to provide horses and carriages for the "travel mail" and possibly accommodation and meals for people traveling in stagecoaches.

Today, the listed building - extensively renovated between 1986 and 1988 - is used for exhibitions, lectures, seminars, readings, matinées and small concerts, but also for weddings in a very special setting.