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A brook so narrow you barely got your feet wet separated a settlement for more than four decades of time. By an accident of topography, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a hamlet surrounded by evergreen groves, fields and spectacular views, found themselves at the center of the Cold War tensions. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in West Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a border that was established first by a barrier and then by a barricade. US troops dubbed it Mini Berlin.

Memorialising History

Months after their own division was opened, and prior to their state had become one in 1990, a collection of villagers set about commemorating their history. The effort is close to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the fall of the German barrier, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was publicly opened by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely ready. Speaking to the villagers who experienced the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an cruel separation, which ripped relatives asunder and turned neighbors into aliens.”

“You were witnesses of an brutal division, which tore households asunder and turned neighbours into strangers.”

Historical Context

Right from its creation in 1810, the community cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a noble lineage most famous for assigning all its men the designation Heinrich and labeling them sequentially by birth order. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the quirk never stood in the way of the residents gathering in the identical tavern, visiting the very same place of worship and placing their kids to the very same learning center.

Post-War Division

Next arrived the second world war. As soon as they came, the Russian troops installed wood stakes by the stream. For a twelve months they seized the whole hamlet, setting up their command in a dwelling on the western side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The US forces urged them to pull back back over the creek. For a time, locals could still jump across, though as restrictions became stricter they were required to display ID, although each person understood who they were, and to return at night.

Intensification of Boundary Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came wire fencing and the legal closing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a wall was constructed, with landmines, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The villagers could still view each other by ascending slopes, but on the east side waving and calling out were forbidden. One woman was placed on a GDR intelligence watch list for answering “likewise” to a western resident who said her “prosperous new year”.

Heritage Site Development

I was told stories such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has devoted much of his professional career building it. Residents were asked at an early stage about how what length of wall they wished to preserve. They selected a section on the Bavarian perimeter, close to where a local resident was able to flee in the dead of night with a climbing device, after which the border was substantially reinforced.

Conserved Structures

2 observation towers are maintained together with a collection of tableaux showing the most significant moments in the community’s past. As we stroll, the director details the restrictions: not a single person could come within 5km of the boundary. Farmers had to obtain specific authorization to tend to their crops; the partner could work the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances the pair, for fear that they attempted to escape. Armed guards were on duty.

Broader Context

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the GDR ran 1,400km, from the northern sea in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and honored the most, but in excess of two times more individuals (well over 300) lost their lives trying to pass over it in provincial zones than in the big city. Lebegern reminds me that almost all of attempts to flee failed.

Village Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or skilled workers, who adjusted to residing in the grey zone between 2 ideological spheres by staying low-profile and tending to their farms. They did not supported the East German authorities nor opposed it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Tourism

For sightseers, however, the village became a sort of destination. About fifteen thousand came to see annually, viewing tools in their hands, to look – and then rapidly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was guided by the German defence minister.

25 years after unification, Tannbach, a television program about a made-up hamlet like Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed attention.

Present-Day Changes

The opening of the new museum – with a coffee shop, store, film screening area and large car park – is probable to