Mr Wagner, you recently received a package that you received 39 years late.

How did the package get to you?

Kevin Hanschke

Volunteer.

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A good week ago I received a call from the post office of the Arnsberg town hall. I was told that a package from the Heinze company in Celle had arrived and that it was too big for our parliamentary group mailbox. Actually, I never order things through the town hall and accordingly I don't receive any packages. At first I thought it was a publicity stunt. When I picked it up on the day of the committee and city council meetings, I noticed straight away that the postcode on it was only four-digit - four-digit postcodes haven't existed since 1993, I thought to myself. And the sender had a date, 03/15/1982. I assumed it was a promotional gift from Heinze GmbH and carried the package around with me through all of the committee meetings for a whole day. Nobody I asked knew what that could be.

Then did you open it?

When I got home I was curious and a little excited.

It really could have been anything.

It was a large, gray and white package with a green print.

It wasn't even damaged or dented.

As I slit open the package, I suddenly encountered a strong smell.

At the top was a letter, I could hardly believe my eyes - it was dated 1982.

The shipping date was actually March 1982. The shipment must have been lying around for decades.

That also explains the musty smell.

What else was in the package?

It was a big book shipment.

The title: "Information System for Municipal Building - Volumes 1–4".

Four thick brochures on municipal urban development, on the topics of new construction and renovation and on building legislation in the Federal Republic.

The Heinze company from Celle printed and wrote them.

Heinze is still around today.

If you look at today's debates about the creation of housing, it is almost topical.

I immediately noticed this dull, dark green.

This typical color that was also used on the old telecom telephones.

That was the final proof: the package is a time capsule from the eighties.

It was amazing how well everything was: the books, the letter, the box.

What is it about exactly?

They are technical texts on building and on political “building tasks” in the municipality.

“The information system is a valuable tool that offers the responsible politician in the community suggestions and decision-making aids when choosing a building,” it says.

At the end of the letter it says: “We wish your community a good development.” Isn't that nice?

Arnsberg has developed well over the last few decades.

You were born in 1993 and have been chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in Arnsberg since autumn 2020.

Can you explain why the package arrived at your group so late?

When the package was sent I wasn't even born.

We have two theories.

The first, more plausible: that Deutsche Post or DHL forgot the parcel and has now rediscovered it in one of the post warehouses.

Such cases are common.

The other: that the package was lost somewhere in the wide offices, corridors and cellars of our town hall.

However, nobody said anything about it, and I talked about it with many people in the city and in the town hall.

We therefore suspect that the first theory must be correct.

Who was the group leader to whom the package was addressed at the time?

It must have been addressed to Mr. Christoph Philipps.

At that time he was the parliamentary group leader, a real veteran.

He must have ordered the things from the engineering office.

I haven't spoken to him about it yet.

We also discussed it in the FDP parliamentary group and in the city group of our party.

And the Heinze company?

Of course, as should be the case for a group chairman, I thanked you by post.

The letter arrived on time - luckily.

Nobody there knew anything about the package either.

The answer was received with joy.

The head of the shipping department wasn't born in 1982 either.

He thanked them and wished them every success in the upcoming elections.

The company still prints the brochures today.

And what's next?

I'll keep the package here with me for now, until a very special date.

If nobody comes and picks up the package, it stays with me.

The brochures are almost antique.

You can no longer use them today.

What do you mean by the special day?

At the end of the year we will have our traditional roast goose meal with the parliamentary group and party.

There are also the former parliamentary group and party leaders and the party's managing directors.

There I will solemnly hand over the package to Mr Philipps in a festive act.