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An creek so shallow you barely got your ankles wet divided a settlement for more than four decades worth of time. Because of a chance of topography, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by pine forests, pastures and stunning vistas, found themselves at the heart of the cold war. They had the misfortune to cross Bavaria, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a frontier that was marked first by a barrier and then by a barricade. American soldiers dubbed it Small Berlin.

Preserving History

Months after their own wall was breached, and even before their country had reunified in 1990, a group of residents began memorialising their heritage. The project is soon to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th commemoration of the fall of the German barrier, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was officially launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the show was not entirely ready. Telling the locals who endured the past era, Steinmeier said: “You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which ripped families into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

“You were witnesses of an inhuman split, which pulled relatives asunder and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Past Context

Even at its establishment in 1810, the community cut across the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a noble lineage most famous for giving all its male members the title Heinrich and counting them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier informed the crowd, the quirk was never an obstacle in the manner of the locals gathering in the very same inn, visiting the very same place of worship and placing their young ones to the same learning center.

Following WWII Split

Subsequently occurred the second world war. Immediately after they came, the Soviet forces installed timber poles by the brook. For a twelve months they took over the whole community, creating their headquarters in a building on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The Americans urged them to retreat to the other side of the brook. For a time, residents could still cross over, though as restrictions increased they were obliged to present ID, even though everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at evening.

Intensification of Boundary Measures

After that, in 1952, came wire fencing and the official sealing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a wall was constructed, with explosives, tank traps and guard posts. The residents could still observe each other by ascending slopes, but on the eastern side waving and calling out were prohibited. A local woman was added to a East German secret police watch list for answering “same to you” to a western local who said her “happy new year”.

Museum Development

I heard stories including these by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated a significant portion of his working life developing it. Residents were consulted early on about how much barrier they desired to maintain. They chose a stretch on the western fringe, close to where a local resident managed to flee in the dead of night with a climbing device, subsequently the border was significantly fortified.

Maintained Structures

Two observation towers are preserved in addition to a set of tableaux showing the most significant moments in the village’s chronicle. As we walk, Robert Lebegern enumerates the regulations: not a single person could approach 5km of the frontier. Rural residents had to obtain particular approval to tend to their crops; the husband or wife could operate the harvesting machine but under no circumstances the pair, lest they tried to escape. Armed guards stood watch.

Larger Perspective

The border between West Germany and the East Germany stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to this location in the south. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most, but in excess of two times more individuals (more than 300) were killed attempting to traverse it in countryside regions than in the big city. the director tells me that almost all of escape attempts failed.

Community Daily Living

The majority of Mödlareuth’s locals were rural laborers or artisans, who accommodated to dwelling in the ambiguous area between 2 ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and tending to their farms. They nor did they supported the communist regime nor opposed it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Tourism

For tourists, however, the village became a kind of destination. About fifteen thousand visited every year, viewing tools in hand, to stare – and then swiftly go away. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was given a tour by the national security head.

25 years after merger, the TV show, a broadcast production about a made-up village resembling Mödlareuth, led to new attention.

Current Evolutions

The launch of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, boutique, cinema room and sizable parking lot – is expected to