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An stream so low you hardly got your ankles wet split a village for more than four decades worth of time. By an accident of topography, the half a hundred locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by coniferous woods, meadows and stunning scenery, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War tensions. They had the bad luck to span Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a boundary that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a barricade. American soldiers dubbed it Small Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Several months after their own barrier was torn down, and before their country had become one in 1990, a collection of local people set about commemorating their past. The work is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was formally opened by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the exhibition was not completely finished. Addressing the locals who lived through the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were witnesses of an brutal separation, which pulled families apart and turned neighbors into strangers.”

“You were witnesses of an brutal separation, which tore families apart and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Historical Origins

Starting at its founding in 1810, the community straddled the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a noble lineage most renowned for giving all its male members the name Heinrich and counting them sequentially by birth. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the oddity did not stand in the path of the residents gathering in the identical pub, visiting the identical religious building and sending their young ones to the same educational institution.

Post-War Separation

Then came the second world war. The moment they appeared, the Russian troops installed wood stakes by the creek. For a twelve months they seized the complete hamlet, creating their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The American soldiers persuaded them to retreat back over the creek. For a time, villagers could still hop over, though as restrictions increased they were forced to display identification, despite the fact that all understood who they were, and to come back at evening.

Increase of Boundary Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a concrete structure was built, with explosives, anti-tank obstacles and watchtowers. The residents could still view each other by climbing elevations, but on the east side waving and yelling were forbidden. A female resident was placed on a GDR intelligence watch list for replying “back at you” to a western local who said her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

I was told accounts such as these by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated much of his working life developing it. Residents were consulted early on about how how long a section structure they desired to maintain. They chose a section on the west fringe, close to where a villager was able to flee in the middle of the night with a climbing device, after which the border was significantly strengthened.

Preserved Installations

Two observation towers are maintained together with a collection of tableaux showing the most impactful moments in the village’s past. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern enumerates the rules: nobody could approach 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers had to obtain particular approval to care for their fields; the husband or wife could work the combine harvester but not the pair, lest they tried to flee. Armed guards kept guard.

Larger Background

The boundary between West Germany and the GDR extended nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the north to the south in the southern region. Berlin is remembered and documented the greatest, but more than two times more individuals (more than 300) lost their lives trying to pass over it in provincial zones than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern informs me that 95% of efforts to cross failed.

Hamlet Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were rural laborers or artisans, who accommodated to residing in the ambiguous area between two ideological spheres by staying low-profile and caring for their fields. They nor did they backed the socialist government nor resisted it, the director states.

Interest

For visitors, however, the hamlet became a kind of site of interest. About 15,000 visited annually, binoculars in possession, to stare – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was guided by the national security head.

Twenty-five years after reunification, the TV show, a TV series about a fictional community resembling Mödlareuth, led to fresh curiosity.

Modern Developments

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, boutique, movie theater and big parking lot – is expected to