On Sunday morning the walker noticed a large pile of what he presumed to be paper in a field to the northwest of the B248. He then reported the pile to the police.
On closer inspection, the pile of paper was revealed to be hundreds of letters and small parcels which had been dumped instead of being delivered.
The exact number of undelivered letters and parcels remains unknown, but according to a police spokesperson there were enough to fill five large sacks, Neue Presse reports.
According to a statement from the Bad Gandersheim police, investigations revealed that the letters dated back to late April this year and were entrusted to a transport and delivery courier service.
But, instead of getting the letters to the people who were waiting for them, the delivery man dumped them in the field – and not just once, but over several days.
Thanks to the company's internal tracking system, the perpetrator was identified and charges have been brought against him for breach of post confidentiality. If convicted. he could face up to five years' imprisonment or a fine.
Irregularities had previously been discovered in the delivery area by the company service, but they had been unable to prove that the man had made any mistakes, Spiegel reports.
The courier's reasons for dumping the mail are thus far unclear, but a police spokesperson said the man presumably felt overloaded and couldn't do his job.
All the letters recovered were passed back to the courier company, which now has the task of reorganising them and, where possible, sending them back to their intended recipients.
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