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A creek so shallow you scarcely got your ankles wet divided a village for more than four decades. By an accident of geography, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement bordered by pine forests, fields and spectacular views, found themselves at the center of the cold war. 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 established first by a barrier and then by a partition. United States military personnel dubbed it Little Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

A few months after their own barrier was breached, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a assembly of villagers began documenting their heritage. The effort is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual remembrance of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was formally inaugurated by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display wasn’t quite prepared. Addressing the villagers who lived through the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an cruel division, which pulled households asunder and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel split, which ripped families asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Historical Background

Starting at its founding in 1810, the community straddled the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family best known for giving all its male descendants the name Heinrich and labeling them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the peculiarity did not stand in the way of the residents socializing in the identical pub, going to the very same church and enrolling their children to the same learning center.

After the War Division

Then came the global conflict. Immediately after they came, the Russians put up wooden posts by the stream. For a annual period they occupied the entire village, creating their command in a house on the Bavarian territory side, embellishing it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The Americans persuaded them to pull back across the stream. For a period, locals could still cross over, though as limitations became stricter they were required to present identity papers, despite the fact that all was aware who they were, and to return at night.

Escalation of Boundary Measures

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal closing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The locals could still see each other by climbing slopes, but on the Soviet side gesturing and calling out were banned. A local woman was put on a GDR intelligence monitoring list for responding “back at you” to a Bavarian resident who said her “prosperous new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

I was told stories like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated much of his occupational time developing it. Residents were asked at an early stage about how what length of barrier they wished to preserve. They opted for a stretch on the Bavarian fringe, near where a villager was able to get away in the darkest hours with a climbing device, following which the boundary was substantially reinforced.

Maintained Buildings

A pair of guard towers are conserved together with a collection of tableaux illustrating the most significant dates in the community’s history. As we move, Lebergen lists the rules: no one could approach 5km of the border. Agricultural workers required special permission to tend to their crops; the spouse could use the agricultural equipment but never both, for fear that they sought to escape. Military personnel stood watch.

Wider Background

The boundary between West Germany and the GDR stretched nearly 900 miles, from the northern sea in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the most, but more than double the number persons (exceeding 300) lost their lives seeking to cross it in countryside regions than in the big city. the director reminds me that 95 percent of escape attempts were unsuccessful.

Community Life

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or skilled workers, who adapted to dwelling in the grey zone between two political systems by staying low-profile and caring for their land. They neither endorsed the socialist government nor resisted it, the director states.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the hamlet became a type of pilgrimage. About 15k came to visit annually, optical devices in possession, to stare – and then quickly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defense official.

Twenty-five years after merger, the TV show, a TV series about a made-up community similar to Mödlareuth, led to new interest.

Current Developments

The opening of the new museum – with a restaurant, store, film screening area and large car park – is likely to