After German Chancellor Angela Merkel retired from her post, she returned to live in her hometown of Uckermark, north of Berlin, an hour's drive by car, with her husband Joachim and her small dog named Putin.

There, by chance, Merkel becomes a police informant, when a murder casts a dark shadow over the idyllic idyllic area of ​​Merkel.

This plot is the centerpiece of a new fictional and satirical detective novel by German writer David Salier, which has been a good seller as Merkel plans to leave office after a 16-year rule.

However, part of the plot is not far from reality, which is Merkel's fondness for Uckermark, especially the small town of Templin - located in the state of Brandenburg - with a population of 16,000, where she grew up amid meadows, forests and lakes.

Historic houses in Templin, childhood home of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (German)

Here lived Merkel

Many Templin residents still know Merkel from her early youth, when the future chancellor was known as Cassie.

Her mother, Herland Kasner, taught English at the town's adult education center until much later in her life, while her father, Horst Kasner, was a famous priest whose relationship with the East German authorities worsened during the communist regime.

And Hans-Urlich Peskov - Merkel's former mathematics teacher - still receives requests from time to time for media interviews with him about his former student, who was a member of the Peskov club for young specialists in mathematics during the communist era. The most talented girl he met in his life.

Entrance to the village of Uckermark, where the country house of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is located (German)

A special area

Ukkermark is an area with a special taste. On the one hand, it is not densely populated and activities, like many parts of the former German Democratic Republic, and the exodus of young people from it almost en masse cannot be ignored.

However, things are changing rapidly in the region, as neighboring Berlin continues to thrive and the capital's growing middle class increasingly seeks to rent country houses or spend their weekends.

The Berlin media described the area as "the Hamptons of Berlin", referring to the American resort of the same name, which is a favorite weekend getaway for wealthy New Yorkers.

"Save us, Berliners are coming," a local old saying has recently emerged, referring to the people of the capital who come to town in their SUVs to buy vegetables at the farmers' market, because they find them wonderful, fresh and they trust.

Templin is a quiet spa town with half-timbered houses, cobblestone streets, and ramparts that surround the old area.

There are not many events happening here, for example a townsman recently made local headlines for planting Germany's largest zucchini.

An abandoned slaughterhouse in an industrial estate in Templin near Berlin, the childhood home of Merkel (German)

Templin town

"If you don't want to see anyone for seven days, you can make it here," says Ernest Volckhardt, head of the Templin Tourism Authority, as if to underscore the calmness of the point.

However, the fact that Templin is the town where Merkel lived as a child has brought it a lot of journalistic and societal interest, but Volckhardt stresses that the town does not want to take advantage of Merkel's affiliation.

The town has no guided tours of Merkel's past, or any brass signs marking buildings that marked the chancellor's life, but a quick look online reveals that Merkel's current country house can be found in the nearby village of Hohenwalde.

A simple, white, single-family house may seem unremarkable enough at first sight, but the presence of a policeman in front of it quickly confirms that you are in the right place.

Lake Duester in the Uckermark near Berlin where Merkel (German) grew up

So the question arises: Is the Ukkermark now overflowing with labor-weary victims from Berlin who seek to improve their existence and achieve peace, by the conscious contemplation of new experiences through beekeeping and jam-making?

German film director Lola Randel described this phenomenon in her novel, which reveals her autobiography with a commendable self-awareness.

Randel resides in the village of Gerswalde, described by the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel as a "village of young people with struggles", and moved there from Berlin 12 years ago, buying a large former hotel, which, during the summer months, operates a Japanese cafe, a beer garden and a kiosk. To sell smoked fish.

Berliners came to this place in droves, and on weekends the garden in the building that Randle had often taken over could resemble a street food market.

Randall says sometimes the crowds are big, and she remembers that she originally left Berlin in search of peace and quiet, and says that it is not easy for the "genie" to return to the bottle he came out of.

A horse-drawn carriage in the Uckermark near Berlin, where Merkel (German) grew up

Moving to the countryside

Another recent development is the number of people who want to move to the countryside permanently, and not just come there on weekends.

Hence, regardless of the crime in the detective novel, there are indeed many unexpected events taking place in the vicinity of Templin, and Merkel will have many things to read to her husband, starting with the local newspaper each morning.

While no one knows exactly what plans the chancellor has after retirement, it is not hard to imagine her choosing to spend more time at Oakermark.