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A creek so narrow you scarcely got your feet wet separated a community for over four decades of time. Because of a chance of landscape, the half a hundred locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by pine forests, pastures and stunning views, found themselves at the center of the Cold War tensions. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span Bavaria, in West Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a frontier that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a partition. American soldiers nicknamed it Small Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

Several months after their own division was torn down, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a assembly of villagers started commemorating their past. The project is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not completely prepared. Speaking to the villagers who lived through the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were witnesses of an brutal separation, which ripped families asunder and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were bystanders of an brutal separation, which ripped households into pieces and turned local residents into strangers.”

Bygone Background

Starting at its founding in 1810, the village spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage best known for bestowing all its male descendants the name Heinrich and counting them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the peculiarity was never an obstacle in the path of the residents gathering in the very same tavern, attending the same church and sending their children to the very same educational institution.

Following WWII Split

Subsequently occurred the World War II. Immediately after they came, the Russians erected timber poles by the brook. For a year they took over the complete village, setting up their command in a building on the western side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The Americans convinced them to withdraw across the brook. For a period, villagers could continue to cross over, though as controls increased they were forced to display identification, although everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at night.

Escalation of Boundary Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came wire fencing and the official closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was built, with landmines, anti-tank obstacles and observation points. The villagers could still see each other by ascending slopes, but on the eastern side waving and yelling were prohibited. One woman was put on a East German secret police surveillance list for responding “same to you” to a western local who wished her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

I was told narratives such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has spent much of his occupational time building it. Locals were consulted early on about how much wall they wanted to preserve. They selected a stretch on the Bavarian edge, adjacent to where a villager succeeded to escape in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, after which the border was significantly reinforced.

Preserved Buildings

Two guard towers are maintained in addition to a collection of displays depicting the most significant moments in the community’s chronicle. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the regulations: no one could get closer than 5km of the border. Farmers needed special permission to care for their produce; the husband or wife could work the combine harvester but under no circumstances the pair, in case they sought to flee. Military personnel kept guard.

Wider Background

The frontier between the Federal Republic and the GDR ran 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and documented the greatest, but over twice as many people (well over 300) died trying to traverse it in rural areas than in the metropolis. the director reminds me that 95 percent of attempts to flee were unsuccessful.

Hamlet Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or artisans, who accommodated to residing in the uncertain territory between a pair of political systems by staying low-profile and looking after their farms. They neither supported the East German authorities nor opposed it, the director clarifies.

Visitors

For visitors, however, the village became a kind of pilgrimage. Approximately 15k came to see every year, viewing tools in their hands, to look – and then quickly go away. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after merger, Tannbach, a broadcast production about a made-up village similar to Mödlareuth, caused fresh interest.

Present-Day Developments

The launch of the modern exhibition center – with a restaurant, store, movie theater and big parking lot – is likely to