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An creek so low you scarcely got your ankles wet divided a settlement for more than four decades of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a small village surrounded by coniferous woods, fields and breathtaking scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was marked first by a fence and then by a barricade. American soldiers nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating Historical Events

Months after their own wall was opened, and prior to their country had become one in 1990, a group of residents began documenting their history. The effort is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th annual remembrance of the collapse of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was officially inaugurated by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the exhibition was not completely ready. Addressing the villagers who endured the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an brutal split, which ripped relatives asunder and turned neighbors into strangers.”

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

Historical Context

Right from its establishment in 1810, the village spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a royal family most famous for bestowing all its male descendants the title Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by birth order. As Steinmeier told the crowd, the peculiarity never stood in the way of the locals socializing in the same pub, attending the identical church and enrolling their kids to the very same school.

After the War Separation

Subsequently occurred the World War II. Immediately after they arrived, the Soviet forces put up wood stakes by the creek. For a twelve months they occupied the complete community, creating their control center in a building on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers urged them to withdraw to the other side of the stream. For a while, residents could still cross over, though as restrictions became stricter they were required to present identification, although each person knew who they were, and to return at evening.

Increase of Border Restrictions

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a wall was built, with explosives, tank traps and guard posts. The villagers could continue to observe each other by scaling slopes, but on the eastern side signaling and yelling were forbidden. A local woman was added to a East German secret police surveillance list for replying “likewise” to a Bavarian villager who said her “prosperous new year”.

Exhibition Center Development

It was related to me stories including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated a significant portion of his working life building it. Locals were asked at an early stage about how how long a section barrier they wanted to preserve. They opted for a portion on the western fringe, adjacent to where a local resident managed to flee in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, after which the boundary was substantially fortified.

Preserved Buildings

A pair of watchtowers are conserved together with a set of exhibits illustrating the most significant events in the hamlet’s history. As we move, Robert Lebegern enumerates the restrictions: nobody could come within 5km of the border. Farmers required special permission to care for their crops; the spouse could use the harvesting machine but under no circumstances the pair, lest they tried to flee. Soldiers stood watch.

Wider Perspective

The border between Western Germany and the German Democratic Republic extended 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the north to here in the south. Berlin is commemorated and documented the greatest, but over double the number people (more than 300) lost their lives trying to traverse it in provincial zones than in the urban center. the director tells me that 95 percent of efforts to cross did not succeed.

Community Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or craftsmen, who adapted to residing in the grey zone between two ideological spheres by avoiding attention and looking after their land. They nor did they supported the East German authorities nor opposed it, the director clarifies.

Interest

For tourists, however, the hamlet became a type of destination. Approximately 15,000 visited each year, binoculars in their hands, to look – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

25 years after merger, the TV show, a broadcast production about a fictional community similar to Mödlareuth, caused renewed curiosity.

Current Evolutions

The inauguration of the new museum – with a cafe, store, movie theater and big parking lot – is probable to