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A stream so low you hardly got your ankles wet divided a settlement for more than four decades of time. Because of a chance of topography, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by coniferous woods, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War tensions. They had the misfortune to span Bavaria, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a frontier that was established first by a fence and then by a wall. United States military personnel nicknamed it Small Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

A few months after their own division was breached, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a group of villagers set about commemorating their heritage. The work is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was formally opened by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely finished. Telling the locals who lived through the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an inhuman division, which tore households into pieces and turned local residents into aliens.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel division, which pulled relatives apart and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Historical Background

Starting at its founding in 1810, the community cut across the Bavarian Kingdom and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage best known for bestowing all its men the name Heinrich and counting them in order by birth. As Steinmeier informed the crowd, the quirk did not stand in the way of the residents gathering in the same pub, attending the very same religious building and enrolling their kids to the very same learning center.

After the War Division

Next arrived the World War II. The moment they appeared, the Russian troops put up wooden posts by the stream. For a annual period they occupied the whole village, setting up their command in a dwelling on the western side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces convinced them to retreat back over the brook. For a period, villagers could continue to hop over, though as limitations became stricter they were required to display identification, even though all knew who they were, and to return at night.

Increase of Boundary Restrictions

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a concrete structure was erected, with explosives, tank traps and guard posts. The locals could continue to see each other by climbing elevations, but on the Soviet side gesturing and calling out were forbidden. A local woman was added to a Stasi surveillance list for answering “same to you” to a West German villager who wished her “good new year”.

Museum Development

I heard stories such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has spent much of his working life creating it. Residents were asked in the initial phases about how how long a section barrier they desired to preserve. They chose a stretch on the Bavarian perimeter, adjacent to where a local resident succeeded to get away in the middle of the night with a ladder, following which the frontier was substantially reinforced.

Maintained Structures

Two observation towers are maintained alongside a collection of exhibits illustrating the most significant dates in the hamlet’s history. As we move, Robert Lebegern enumerates the restrictions: not a single person could get closer than 5km of the frontier. Farmers had to obtain specific authorization to tend to their crops; the partner could use the combine harvester but under no circumstances both, in case they attempted to make a run for it. Military personnel were on duty.

Larger Context

The frontier between the Federal Republic and the East Germany stretched 1,400km, from the Baltic coast in the north to here in the south. Berlin is recalled and documented the most frequently, but in excess of twice as many persons (well over 300) died attempting to cross it in provincial zones than in the metropolis. Lebegern reminds me that 95 percent of efforts to cross failed.

Community Daily Living

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adapted to residing in the grey zone between two ideological spheres by avoiding attention and tending to their farms. They neither endorsed the East German authorities nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern states.

Tourism

For visitors, however, the village became a sort of pilgrimage. Roughly 15,000 came to see annually, optical devices in possession, to look – and then rapidly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was guided by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after reunification, Tannbach, a television program about a fictional hamlet like Mödlareuth, led to new curiosity.

Current Evolutions

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a cafe, boutique, film screening area and sizable car park – is probable to