Easy to see why Fallada decided to live in Carwitz

Anyone who has read any of Hans Fallada's books should, if ever in Germany, visit the house where he was happiest.

Rudolf Ditzen, his real name, lived from 1933 until 1945 in Carwitz, which is approximately 150 kilometres north of Berlin in east Mecklenburg.

It is a tiny village surrounded by Lake Lucien. His family home is now a museum.

Fallada managed to stay out of serious trouble with the nazis, Russians and then the East German Communists. They all were nervous and sceptical about him but he survived, more or less.

But in the end it was the morphine that got him. He smoked 100 cigarettes a day, abused alcohol and was a drug addict. He had one or two other issues too.

The key to success?

An extraordinary writer. In all his works one gets the impression that Fallada is talking directly to the reader.

A quote from 'Iron Gustav": “When you get old, you begin to ask yourself: why have you actually lived? What have you achieved?”

And the drive between Berlin and Carwitz brings one close to Templin, where another famous German was born. The town where Angela Merkel grew up and where her father was the pastor. Indeed, where she has a 'hideaway' today.