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An creek so low you scarcely got your ankles wet split a village for more than four decades. Because of a chance of geography, the half a hundred locals of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by pine forests, pastures and stunning views, found themselves at the heart of the cold war. They had the bad luck to span the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was marked first by a enclosure and then by a partition. American soldiers nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Preserving the Past

A few months after their own division was breached, and even before their nation had reunified in 1990, a assembly of residents started commemorating their heritage. The project is soon to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was officially launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely finished. Addressing the locals who experienced the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an inhuman division, which ripped families apart and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel separation, which pulled households into pieces and turned local residents into aliens.”

Historical Context

Starting at its creation in 1810, the community straddled the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage most renowned for bestowing all its male descendants the designation Heinrich and labeling them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the quirk did not stand in the path of the residents gathering in the identical inn, attending the very same religious building and placing their young ones to the very same educational institution.

Post-War Split

Then came the global conflict. As soon as they arrived, the Russian troops put up wood stakes by the brook. For a year they took over the complete village, establishing their control center in a building on the western side, decorating it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The American soldiers convinced them to retreat to the other side of the brook. For a time, villagers could still hop over, though as restrictions increased they were required to display identification, even though each person was aware who they were, and to come back at night.

Escalation of Boundary Controls

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official sealing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was constructed, with explosives, anti-tank obstacles and watchtowers. The villagers could still observe each other by scaling elevations, but on the Soviet side gesturing and yelling were prohibited. A female resident was added to a GDR intelligence monitoring list for replying “back at you” to a western villager who wished her “good new year”.

Exhibition Center Establishment

It was related to me stories including these by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has spent much of his professional career creating it. Residents were consulted at an early stage about how what length of wall they desired to preserve. They chose a section on the Bavarian fringe, close to where one of their own succeeded to escape in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, subsequently the boundary was heavily strengthened.

Maintained Installations

Two observation towers are preserved alongside a series of displays showing the most impactful events in the community’s history. As we stroll, the director lists the rules: nobody could approach 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers required special permission to tend to their fields; the spouse could use the agricultural equipment but never both, in case they tried to flee. Soldiers stood watch.

Wider Perspective

The border between Western Germany and the German Democratic Republic extended nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to the south in the south. Berlin is remembered and honored the greatest, but more than double the number persons (more than 300) died seeking to traverse it in rural areas than in the big city. the director informs me that 95% of attempts to flee failed.

Hamlet Existence

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were rural laborers or craftsmen, who adjusted to dwelling in the grey zone between 2 belief systems by avoiding attention and tending to their fields. They did not supported the socialist government nor fought it, the director clarifies.

Visitors

For tourists, however, the settlement became a sort of pilgrimage. Roughly 15k came to visit each year, binoculars in their hands, to look – and then rapidly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after merger, the television series, a TV series about a made-up community similar to Mödlareuth, resulted in new attention.

Present-Day Changes

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