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An brook so narrow you barely got your ankles wet separated a village for in excess of four decades of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by coniferous woods, pastures and spectacular views, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a frontier that was marked first by a barrier and then by a wall. American soldiers called it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating History

A few months after their own barrier was opened, and even before their country had become one in 1990, a group of residents started documenting their heritage. The effort is about to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the collapse of the Wall in Berlin, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the exhibition was not completely finished. Addressing the villagers who endured the former times, Steinmeier said: “You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which pulled households asunder and turned neighbours into aliens.”

“You were observers of an brutal separation, which pulled relatives apart and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Past Origins

Starting at its creation in 1810, the hamlet cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a noble lineage best known for giving all its men the name Heinrich and counting them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the crowd, the peculiarity never stood in the path of the locals drinking in the identical inn, visiting the same religious building and placing their children to the same school.

Post-War Division

Subsequently occurred the World War II. The moment they arrived, the Soviet forces erected wooden posts by the stream. For a twelve months they took over the complete village, setting up their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The Americans persuaded them to withdraw to the other side of the creek. For a time, locals could continue to cross over, though as limitations tightened they were forced to show identity papers, even though each person was aware who they were, and to come back at after dark.

Intensification of Boundary Controls

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the official shutting of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a concrete structure was constructed, with mines, anti-tank obstacles and guard posts. The residents could still observe each other by ascending hills, but on the Soviet side signaling and yelling were banned. A local woman was put on a GDR intelligence monitoring list for answering “same to you” to a western villager who wished her “good new year”.

Museum Creation

I heard accounts including these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated much of his professional career creating it. Villagers were asked early on about how how long a section barrier they wished to keep. They opted for a portion on the western perimeter, adjacent to where a villager was able to flee in the middle of the night with a ladder, after which the border was heavily strengthened.

Conserved Installations

A pair of guard towers are conserved alongside a set of displays showing the most impactful dates in the hamlet’s history. As we stroll, Lebergen details the restrictions: not a single person could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Rural residents needed particular approval to tend to their produce; the spouse could use the combine harvester but never the two, for fear that they tried to make a run for it. Military personnel stood watch.

Broader Background

The border between Western Germany and the German Democratic Republic extended 1,400km, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to the south in the south. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the greatest, but in excess of two times more persons (exceeding 300) lost their lives attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the urban center. Lebegern informs me that 95% of escape attempts failed.

Hamlet Life

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s villagers were agricultural workers or craftsmen, who accommodated to living in the uncertain territory between 2 ideological spheres by staying low-profile and looking after their farms. They nor did they backed the communist regime nor resisted it, the director clarifies.

Visitors

For tourists, however, the settlement became a sort of destination. Approximately 15,000 came to see each year, binoculars in possession, to gawp – and then swiftly go away. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was guided by the national security head.

Twenty five years after merger, the TV show, a broadcast production about a fictional community like Mödlareuth, led to new curiosity.

Modern Developments

The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, boutique, cinema room and big parking lot – is probable to