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A creek so low you barely got your feet wet split a community for more than four decades of time. Because of a chance of topography, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a small village surrounded by evergreen groves, fields and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to straddle Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a frontier that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a wall. US troops nicknamed it Small Berlin.

Commemorating the Past

Months after their own barrier was opened, and prior to their nation had reunified in 1990, a collection of residents started memorialising their heritage. The effort is close to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth commemoration of the collapse of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was officially inaugurated by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely prepared. Telling the locals who lived through the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were witnesses of an brutal split, which tore households into pieces and turned local residents into aliens.”

“You were witnesses of an brutal split, which ripped families asunder and turned local residents into strangers.”

Past Context

Even at its creation in 1810, the hamlet spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a royal family best known for bestowing all its men the title Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier informed the crowd, the peculiarity was never an obstacle in the way of the locals drinking in the same inn, visiting the same religious building and sending their children to the very same school.

Following WWII Split

Then came the World War II. As soon as they came, the Soviet forces put up wood stakes by the creek. For a twelve months they seized the entire village, creating their headquarters in a house on the Bavarian side, embellishing it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The US forces convinced them to retreat to the other side of the brook. For a period, residents could still cross over, though as limitations tightened they were obliged to present ID, although all knew who they were, and to come back at evening.

Intensification of Boundary Controls

After that, in 1952, came wire fencing and the official shutting of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was built, with landmines, tank traps and watchtowers. The residents could still see each other by ascending elevations, but on the eastern side gesturing and calling out were prohibited. A local woman was added to a Stasi surveillance list for replying “back at you” to a West German resident who greeted her “prosperous new year”.

Exhibition Center Establishment

I was told stories such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated a significant portion of his working life building it. Residents were consulted at an early stage about how much wall they wanted to maintain. They selected a section on the west perimeter, adjacent to where a local resident managed to flee in the middle of the night with a climbing device, following which the frontier was significantly reinforced.

Maintained Buildings

Two observation towers are maintained in addition to a collection of tableaux depicting the most significant events in the community’s past. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern details the rules: nobody could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Farmers had to obtain specific authorization to tend to their produce; the spouse could work the combine harvester but not both, for fear that they attempted to make a run for it. Armed guards were on duty.

Broader Background

The boundary between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran nearly 900 miles, from the northern sea in the northern part to the south in the south. Berlin is remembered and documented the most, but in excess of double the number individuals (exceeding 300) died attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the metropolis. the director informs me that almost all of attempts to flee failed.

Community Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s locals were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adjusted to dwelling in the grey zone between 2 political systems by avoiding attention and looking after their land. They did not backed the communist regime nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Visitors

For tourists, however, the village became a sort of site of interest. About 15k came to see every year, optical devices in possession, to gawp – and then rapidly go away. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

Twenty-five years after reunification, the television series, a broadcast production about a made-up hamlet similar to Mödlareuth, led to renewed interest.

Current Developments

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, boutique, movie theater and sizable vehicle area – is likely to