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An brook so narrow you scarcely got your feet wet divided a settlement for over four decades. By an accident of topography, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a small village bordered by evergreen groves, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the misfortune to span Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a border that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a partition. American soldiers nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating History

A few months after their own barrier was breached, and before their state had unified again in 1990, a group of local people set about commemorating their history. The project is about to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth remembrance of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was formally launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the exhibition was not entirely finished. Addressing the residents who lived through the past era, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an inhuman split, which ripped families apart and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were witnesses of an inhuman division, which pulled families asunder and turned local residents into aliens.”

Historical Origins

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the community spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Princely State of Reuss, a princely house best known for bestowing all its male members the name Heinrich and numbering them sequentially by birth. As Steinmeier informed the crowd, the oddity never stood in the manner of the residents socializing in the identical tavern, visiting the very same religious building and placing their young ones to the same school.

Following WWII Separation

Then came the global conflict. The moment they arrived, the Soviet forces erected wood stakes by the stream. For a annual period they seized the whole hamlet, setting up their control center in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, embellishing it with a portrait of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces persuaded them to pull back back over the creek. For a while, locals could still cross over, though as restrictions tightened they were required to present identification, even though all was aware who they were, and to return at after dark.

Escalation of Boundary Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came wire fencing and the official sealing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was erected, with mines, anti-tank obstacles and observation points. The villagers could still view each other by scaling slopes, but on the eastern side gesturing and yelling were banned. One woman was added to a Stasi monitoring list for responding “same to you” to a western resident who said her “prosperous new year”.

Museum Creation

I heard stories like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated much of his occupational time creating it. Villagers were consulted early on about how how long a section barrier they wished to keep. They chose a stretch on the western edge, near where a villager was able to flee in the middle of the night with a climbing device, subsequently the border was significantly strengthened.

Maintained Structures

A pair of observation towers are conserved together with a set of exhibits illustrating the most dramatic moments in the village’s history. As we stroll, the director enumerates the restrictions: no one could get closer than 5km of the frontier. Farmers had to obtain particular approval to look after their crops; the husband or wife could work the agricultural equipment but not the pair, lest they attempted to flee. Armed guards were on duty.

Larger Perspective

The boundary between Western Germany and the East Germany ran nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and documented the most frequently, but more than two times more persons (more than 300) were killed seeking to pass over it in rural areas than in the big city. the director tells me that 95% of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Hamlet Life

The majority of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or artisans, who adjusted to dwelling in the grey zone between 2 ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and tending to their fields. They nor did they supported the communist regime nor fought it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Visitors

For visitors, however, the settlement became a type of destination. Approximately 15k visited each year, viewing tools in their hands, to gawp – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after unification, Tannbach, a television program about a made-up village resembling Mödlareuth, resulted in new curiosity.

Present-Day Evolutions

The launch of the recently established museum – with a restaurant, store, film screening area and large vehicle area – is probable to