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A stream so shallow you scarcely got your ankles wet divided a settlement for in excess of four decades. By an accident of geography, the fifty locals of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by coniferous woods, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War tensions. They had the misfortune to straddle Bavaria, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the Eastern part, a boundary that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a barricade. American soldiers nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Preserving History

A few months after their own division was opened, and even before their nation had reunified in 1990, a group of residents set about memorialising their heritage. The work is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the collapse 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 display was not completely ready. Telling the locals who lived through the past era, Steinmeier stated: “You were witnesses of an brutal separation, which pulled families into pieces and turned neighbors into strangers.”

“You were observers of an inhuman separation, which tore families asunder and turned local residents into aliens.”

Historical Background

Even at its creation in 1810, the hamlet straddled the Royal Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a noble lineage most famous for bestowing all its men the name Heinrich and counting them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier told the gathering, the peculiarity did not stand in the manner of the residents socializing in the same inn, attending the identical place of worship and enrolling their young ones to the same learning center.

After the War Split

Next arrived the World War II. The moment they arrived, the Russian troops put up timber poles by the brook. For a year they took over the complete community, establishing their control center in a building on the western side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers convinced them to retreat to the other side of the stream. For a time, residents could still cross over, though as controls became stricter they were required to show identity papers, even though all understood who they were, and to go back at night.

Intensification of Frontier Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the legal shutting of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a wall was built, with explosives, tank traps and observation points. The villagers could still see each other by ascending slopes, but on the east side signaling and shouting were prohibited. A female resident was placed on a East German secret police surveillance list for answering “likewise” to a western villager who wished her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Development

I heard stories like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated much of his professional career creating it. Villagers were consulted at an early stage about how how long a section structure they wanted to maintain. They selected a portion on the Bavarian edge, near where a local resident succeeded to escape in the dead of night with a climbing device, after which the frontier was heavily reinforced.

Conserved Buildings

A pair of observation towers are preserved in addition to a series of exhibits illustrating the most significant events in the village’s chronicle. As we stroll, the director enumerates the regulations: no one could get closer than 5km of the frontier. Farmers needed particular approval to look after their produce; the partner could use the agricultural equipment but not the two, in case they tried to flee. Armed guards were on duty.

Larger Background

The frontier between West Germany and the East Germany stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most, but over twice as many individuals (more than 300) were killed attempting to traverse it in provincial zones than in the urban center. the director tells me that almost all of efforts to cross failed.

Hamlet Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or craftsmen, who accommodated to residing in the uncertain territory between two belief systems by avoiding attention and caring for their farms. They did not supported the socialist government nor fought it, Lebegern states.

Interest

For sightseers, however, the village became a sort of destination. About 15k visited annually, viewing tools in possession, to gawp – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was guided by the German defense official.

25 years after merger, the television series, a TV series about a made-up village resembling Mödlareuth, caused new interest.

Current Developments

The opening of the new museum – with a coffee shop, boutique, cinema room and sizable car park – is likely to