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An stream so narrow you hardly got your feet wet separated a village for in excess of four decades worth of time. Because of a chance of geography, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by pine forests, meadows and breathtaking views, found themselves at the center of the Cold War tensions. They had the misfortune to span Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a boundary that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a partition. American soldiers called it Small Berlin.

Memorialising Historical Events

Several months after their own barrier was torn down, and even before their country had reunified in 1990, a collection of residents set about commemorating their past. The effort is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the fall of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was officially launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the exhibition was not entirely prepared. Addressing the locals who lived through the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were observers of an inhuman division, which tore families into pieces and turned local residents into aliens.”

“You were witnesses of an brutal split, which ripped relatives asunder and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

Historical Context

Starting at its creation in 1810, the community spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage most renowned for assigning all its male members the name Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by birth order. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the peculiarity did not stand in the way of the residents socializing in the same inn, visiting the same place of worship and sending their kids to the very same learning center.

After the War Split

Then came the global conflict. As soon as they came, the Soviet forces erected wooden posts by the brook. For a annual period they occupied the complete community, creating their command in a building on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a portrait of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The Americans urged them to retreat across the brook. For a while, residents could still hop over, though as controls increased they were obliged to display ID, although everyone was aware who they were, and to go back at evening.

Intensification of Frontier Restrictions

Subsequently, in 1952, came barbed wire and the formal shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a wall was erected, with landmines, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The villagers could still view each other by climbing hills, but on the east side waving and shouting were banned. One woman was placed on a East German secret police monitoring list for answering “back at you” to a western villager who wished her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

It was related to me accounts including these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has devoted a significant portion of his professional career developing it. Locals were asked at an early stage about how what length of wall they wished to preserve. They opted for a section on the Bavarian edge, adjacent to where one of their own managed to escape in the darkest hours with a ladder, after which the border was substantially strengthened.

Preserved Installations

2 observation towers are preserved together with a series of exhibits illustrating the most impactful events in the hamlet’s history. As we walk, Robert Lebegern details the restrictions: no one could come within 5km of the frontier. Farmers required particular approval to care for their fields; the husband or wife could work the agricultural equipment but not the pair, lest they tried to make a run for it. Military personnel stood watch.

Broader Background

The frontier between the Federal Republic and the GDR ran 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the south in the south. Berlin is recalled and documented the most, but in excess of twice as many persons (more than 300) died attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the urban center. Robert Lebegern reminds me that almost all of attempts to flee were unsuccessful.

Village Existence

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who accommodated to living in the grey zone between 2 political systems by staying low-profile and caring for their farms. They nor did they backed the communist regime nor fought it, the director clarifies.

Interest

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a type of pilgrimage. About fifteen thousand came to visit every year, optical devices in their hands, to look – and then rapidly depart. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was guided by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after merger, Tannbach, a broadcast production about a fictional village resembling Mödlareuth, led to renewed interest.

Modern Evolutions

The opening of the new museum – with a restaurant, shop, film screening area and sizable vehicle area – is expected to