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An brook so narrow you barely got your ankles wet split a community for over four decades of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by evergreen groves, fields and breathtaking scenery, found themselves at the core of the Cold War tensions. They had the misfortune to span the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was established first by a fence and then by a partition. United States military personnel nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Preserving History

A few months after their own barrier was torn down, and prior to their country had unified again in 1990, a group of villagers set about commemorating their past. The project is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the demolition of the German barrier, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was formally launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely ready. Addressing the residents who experienced the past era, Steinmeier stated: “You were observers of an inhuman split, which tore households into pieces and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

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

Past Background

Even at its founding in 1810, the community cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a royal family best known for bestowing all its men the name Heinrich and counting them sequentially by birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the quirk did not stand in the manner of the inhabitants drinking in the identical tavern, visiting the very same place of worship and sending their young ones to the identical learning center.

Following WWII Split

Next arrived the second world war. The moment they appeared, the Soviet forces erected timber poles by the creek. For a year they occupied the entire community, creating their headquarters in a house on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The US forces convinced them to withdraw to the other side of the creek. For a period, residents could continue to hop over, though as restrictions became stricter they were required to show identification, although each person understood who they were, and to return at after dark.

Increase of Border Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the legal shutting of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The locals could continue to see each other by ascending elevations, but on the Soviet side signaling and yelling were banned. A local woman was put on a GDR intelligence watch list for responding “back at you” to a West German local who greeted her “good new year”.

Museum Establishment

It was related to me narratives such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated much of his working life creating it. Villagers were polled at an early stage about how what length of wall they wished to preserve. They selected a section on the western fringe, adjacent to where a villager was able to get away in the dead of night with a ladder, subsequently the frontier was significantly strengthened.

Maintained Buildings

A pair of observation towers are preserved together with a set of tableaux illustrating the most significant moments in the village’s history. As we move, Robert Lebegern details the restrictions: no one could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Farmers required special permission to look after their produce; the spouse could operate the combine harvester but never the two, in case they tried to escape. Soldiers kept guard.

Wider Context

The boundary between Western Germany and the East Germany ran 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic coast in the north to the south in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and honored the most frequently, but over double the number individuals (more than 300) were killed seeking to pass over it in rural areas than in the big city. Robert Lebegern reminds me that 95% of escape attempts were unsuccessful.

Community Life

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s villagers were rural laborers or skilled workers, who adjusted to residing in the ambiguous area between 2 belief systems by keeping their heads down and looking after their land. They neither backed the socialist government nor resisted it, Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For tourists, however, the village became a sort of destination. Roughly 15,000 came to see each year, binoculars in their hands, to stare – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

25 years after unification, the television series, a broadcast production about a fictional village resembling Mödlareuth, resulted in fresh interest.

Present-Day Changes

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, shop, cinema room and large parking lot – is expected to