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A creek so narrow you scarcely got your feet wet separated a village for over four decades of time. Because of a chance of topography, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by pine forests, fields and spectacular vistas, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to straddle Bavaria, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a border that was demarcated first by a enclosure and then by a wall. American soldiers called it Mini Berlin.

Preserving History

A few months after their own division was opened, and before their nation had become one in 1990, a collection of villagers began memorialising their heritage. The project is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th commemoration of the fall of the Wall in Berlin, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was formally inaugurated by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the show wasn’t quite finished. Addressing the residents who endured the old days, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an brutal separation, which tore families into pieces and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

“You were witnesses of an brutal split, which tore households apart and turned local residents into aliens.”

Historical Origins

Starting at its creation in 1810, the community straddled the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a princely house most renowned for assigning all its male descendants the designation Heinrich and labeling them in order by birth. As Steinmeier informed the audience, the oddity did not stand in the manner of the residents gathering in the same inn, visiting the same religious building and sending their children to the same school.

Following WWII Division

Then came the World War II. Immediately after they came, the Soviet forces put up wooden posts by the stream. For a twelve months they occupied the complete village, setting up their command in a house on the western side, decorating it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers convinced them to withdraw across the creek. For a time, villagers could still cross over, though as limitations became stricter they were obliged to display ID, even though everyone understood who they were, and to go back at night.

Increase of Boundary Controls

After that, in 1952, came wire fencing and the legal closing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a concrete structure was constructed, with mines, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The villagers could still observe each other by scaling elevations, but on the east side waving and yelling were forbidden. One woman was placed on a East German secret police watch list for answering “likewise” to a Bavarian local who wished her “prosperous new year”.

Museum Establishment

It was related to me accounts like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has devoted much of his professional career creating it. Residents were consulted at an early stage about how much barrier they wanted to keep. They chose a stretch on the west perimeter, close to where a villager managed to get away in the middle of the night with a climbing device, subsequently the border was substantially strengthened.

Preserved Buildings

A pair of observation towers are maintained in addition to a set of exhibits depicting the most significant dates in the hamlet’s history. As we walk, Robert Lebegern lists the restrictions: no one could approach 5km of the frontier. Rural residents required particular approval to tend to their produce; the spouse could operate the harvesting machine but not the pair, for fear that they sought to escape. Armed guards kept guard.

Broader Background

The boundary between Western Germany and the GDR ran 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the south in the south. Berlin is recalled and honored the most frequently, but in excess of twice as many individuals (exceeding 300) lost their lives seeking to traverse it in provincial zones than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern informs me that 95% of attempts to flee failed.

Hamlet Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or artisans, who adjusted to residing in the uncertain territory between 2 belief systems by avoiding attention and looking after their land. They nor did they backed the East German authorities nor fought it, Lebegern explains.

Visitors

For visitors, however, the hamlet became a type of destination. About fifteen thousand came to see each year, optical devices in possession, to look – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was guided by the German defense official.

Twenty-five years after merger, Tannbach, a TV series about a imaginary community resembling Mödlareuth, led to renewed curiosity.

Modern Evolutions

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a cafe, boutique, cinema room and large parking lot – is expected to