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An brook so shallow you scarcely got your ankles wet divided a settlement for more than four decades. Due to a quirk of topography, the half a hundred locals of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement bordered by coniferous woods, meadows and breathtaking scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a border that was demarcated first by a enclosure and then by a wall. United States military personnel dubbed it Small Berlin.

Commemorating History

Months after their own wall was opened, and even before their state had unified again in 1990, a group of local people began commemorating their past. The project is close to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth commemoration of the fall of the German barrier, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was formally launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not entirely finished. Speaking to the locals who experienced the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were witnesses of an cruel split, which tore relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel split, which ripped relatives into pieces and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Historical Background

Starting at its creation in 1810, the hamlet spanned the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family most renowned for bestowing all its male members the name Heinrich and labeling them sequentially by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the oddity did not stand in the way of the inhabitants socializing in the identical pub, attending the identical place of worship and sending their children to the very same learning center.

After the War Split

Then came the second world war. As soon as they arrived, the Soviet forces installed wooden posts by the creek. For a twelve months they took over the whole community, setting up their command in a building on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a portrait of Stalin and a communist symbol. The American soldiers persuaded them to retreat to the other side of the creek. For a while, residents could still hop over, though as limitations became stricter they were obliged to display identity papers, despite the fact that all understood who they were, and to come back at evening.

Increase of Boundary Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came wire fencing and the legal sealing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a concrete structure was erected, with mines, tank traps and observation points. The villagers could continue to view each other by climbing elevations, but on the eastern side waving and shouting were prohibited. A local woman was added to a GDR intelligence surveillance list for answering “same to you” to a Bavarian local who said her “good new year”.

Museum Establishment

I heard accounts including these by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has spent a significant portion of his occupational time building it. Villagers were polled in the initial phases about how how long a section barrier they desired to keep. They selected a portion on the Bavarian perimeter, adjacent to where a local resident succeeded to get away in the darkest hours with a scaling tool, following which the boundary was substantially strengthened.

Preserved Buildings

2 watchtowers are maintained alongside a set of displays depicting the most impactful dates in the village’s history. As we move, Lebergen enumerates the restrictions: not a single person could come within 5km of the boundary. Farmers required specific authorization to tend to their crops; the spouse could use the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances the pair, lest they tried to escape. Soldiers kept guard.

Wider Perspective

The border between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic stretched 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the north to the south in the south. Berlin is remembered and memorialised the greatest, but in excess of twice as many individuals (exceeding 300) lost their lives seeking to traverse it in countryside regions than in the urban center. Robert Lebegern informs me that almost all of escape attempts failed.

Hamlet Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or craftsmen, who adjusted to dwelling in the grey zone between two political systems by staying low-profile and caring for their land. They nor did they backed the socialist government nor fought it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For tourists, however, the settlement became a type of destination. Approximately 15k visited annually, optical devices in possession, to gawp – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after unification, Tannbach, a TV series about a fictional hamlet like Mödlareuth, caused new interest.

Modern Developments

The opening of the new museum – with a coffee shop, store, film screening area and large parking lot – is probable to