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An creek so low you barely got your ankles wet divided a settlement for in excess of four decades worth of time. Because of a chance of topography, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement bordered by pine forests, pastures and breathtaking vistas, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a frontier that was marked first by a fence and then by a barricade. US troops called it Little Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Several months after their own division was opened, and even before their state had reunified in 1990, a collection of local people began documenting their history. The effort is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual remembrance of the demolition of the Wall in Berlin, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was officially launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the exhibition was not completely prepared. Speaking to the residents who endured the past era, Steinmeier said: “You were bystanders of an cruel separation, which tore households into pieces and turned neighbours into strangers.”

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

Historical Context

Starting at its founding in 1810, the village spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage best known for assigning all its male members the name Heinrich and counting them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier informed the crowd, the peculiarity did not stand in the manner of the residents socializing in the very same pub, attending the very same place of worship and enrolling their young ones to the identical educational institution.

After the War Division

Subsequently occurred the second world war. As soon as they came, the Russian troops installed wooden posts by the stream. For a year they seized the complete village, creating their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers urged them to withdraw to the other side of the brook. For a period, locals could continue to cross over, though as limitations increased they were required to show identification, although each person understood who they were, and to come back at after dark.

Escalation of Boundary Measures

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was built, with mines, tank traps and guard posts. The locals could continue to view each other by ascending slopes, but on the east side waving and calling out were forbidden. A female resident was placed on a Stasi surveillance list for answering “likewise” to a Bavarian local who said her “prosperous new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

It was related to me stories such as these by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has spent a large part of his working life building it. Villagers were polled in the initial phases about how how long a section barrier they wanted to maintain. They selected a stretch on the west edge, near where one of their own succeeded to flee in the dead of night with a climbing device, following which the boundary was substantially fortified.

Preserved Buildings

A pair of observation towers are maintained together with a series of displays showing the most significant events in the hamlet’s chronicle. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the restrictions: no one could get closer than 5km of the border. Agricultural workers had to obtain special permission to look after their produce; the husband or wife could operate the agricultural equipment but not both, lest they attempted to flee. Military personnel were on duty.

Larger Background

The border between the Federal Republic and the East Germany stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to here in the south. Berlin is remembered and documented the most frequently, but in excess of twice as many people (more than 300) died trying to traverse it in rural areas than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern tells me that 95% of efforts to cross did not succeed.

Hamlet Daily Living

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or skilled workers, who adjusted to residing in the ambiguous area between 2 ideological spheres by staying low-profile and caring for their farms. They nor did they supported the communist regime nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern explains.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a kind of destination. About 15k visited each year, optical devices in possession, to gawp – and then rapidly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the national security head.

Twenty five years after reunification, Tannbach, a television program about a fictional hamlet similar to Mödlareuth, resulted in new attention.

Current Evolutions

The opening of the recently established museum – with a restaurant, boutique, film screening area and large parking lot – is likely to