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A stream so narrow you hardly got your feet wet split a settlement for in excess of four decades. By an accident of landscape, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a small village surrounded by evergreen groves, fields and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the heart of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a border that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a partition. US troops called it Small Berlin.

Memorialising History

A few months after their own barrier was opened, and prior to their nation had reunified in 1990, a collection of villagers began memorialising their past. The effort is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the demolition of the Wall in Berlin, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display wasn’t quite finished. Speaking to the villagers who experienced the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an cruel separation, which pulled families apart and turned neighbors into aliens.”

“You were witnesses of an cruel split, which pulled households apart and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Past Context

Right from its founding in 1810, the community cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a noble lineage most famous for bestowing all its male descendants the title Heinrich and counting them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the peculiarity was never an obstacle in the way of the inhabitants socializing in the very same tavern, visiting the very same place of worship and sending their kids to the identical educational institution.

Following WWII Split

Next arrived the World War II. As soon as they appeared, the Russian troops put up timber poles by the stream. For a annual period they occupied the entire village, creating their command in a building on the Bavarian territory side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces persuaded them to retreat back over the brook. For a period, residents could still cross over, though as controls became stricter they were forced to present ID, even though everyone was aware who they were, and to go back at evening.

Increase of Boundary Measures

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a concrete structure was erected, with mines, tank traps and watchtowers. The locals could still observe each other by climbing slopes, but on the Soviet side waving and calling out were forbidden. A local woman was placed on a GDR intelligence monitoring list for responding “back at you” to a Bavarian villager who said her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Development

I was told accounts like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has spent much of his working life developing it. Locals were asked at an early stage about how what length of barrier they wanted to preserve. They chose a portion on the west fringe, close to where a villager was able to escape in the dead of night with a scaling tool, subsequently the frontier was heavily fortified.

Maintained Buildings

2 guard towers are conserved alongside a collection of displays illustrating the most dramatic dates in the village’s history. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern enumerates the regulations: not a single person could approach 5km of the boundary. Farmers required special permission to look after their crops; the partner could work the agricultural equipment but not both, lest they sought to make a run for it. Military personnel kept guard.

Larger Context

The border between Western Germany and the East Germany stretched 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to the south in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the greatest, but over two times more people (more than 300) lost their lives seeking to cross it in countryside regions than in the metropolis. Lebegern tells me that almost all of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Village Life

The majority of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or skilled workers, who accommodated to living in the ambiguous area between 2 political systems by avoiding attention and tending to their farms. They nor did they backed the East German authorities nor resisted it, the director clarifies.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a sort of site of interest. Approximately 15,000 came to visit annually, viewing tools in possession, to gawp – and then quickly depart. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after merger, the TV show, a broadcast production about a fictional village like Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed attention.

Present-Day Changes

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a restaurant, shop, film screening area and sizable parking lot – is probable to