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A brook so narrow you scarcely got your feet wet separated a village for over four decades of time. Because of a chance of landscape, the fifty locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by pine forests, meadows and breathtaking views, found themselves at the core of the Cold War tensions. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross Bavaria, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a border that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a partition. US troops nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

A few months after their own wall was torn down, and prior to their country had unified again in 1990, a assembly of residents set about memorialising their past. The work is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was formally launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the exhibition wasn’t quite prepared. Speaking to the residents who lived through the old days, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an cruel division, which tore households apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”

“You were observers of an inhuman division, which ripped households apart and turned neighbors into strangers.”

Historical Context

Even at its founding in 1810, the village straddled the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a royal family most renowned for assigning all its men the title Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the crowd, the oddity never stood in the way of the inhabitants socializing in the very same tavern, visiting the same place of worship and sending their children to the same school.

Following WWII Split

Then came the global conflict. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces erected timber poles by the creek. For a annual period they occupied the complete village, establishing their command in a building on the western side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a red star. The Americans urged them to withdraw to the other side of the creek. For a period, locals could still hop over, though as controls increased they were required to show ID, despite the fact that each person knew who they were, and to return at after dark.

Escalation of Boundary Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was erected, with mines, tank traps and guard posts. The locals could still observe each other by scaling elevations, but on the east side waving and calling out were forbidden. A local woman was put on a East German secret police surveillance list for replying “back at you” to a Bavarian local who said her “happy new year”.

Museum Development

I heard accounts including these by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated a large part of his professional career developing it. Residents were consulted early on about how what length of wall they wanted to maintain. They chose a portion on the west edge, near where one of their own succeeded to flee in the dead of night with a ladder, after which the boundary was significantly fortified.

Maintained Installations

A pair of observation towers are preserved together with a collection of displays showing the most significant moments in the community’s past. As we stroll, the director details the rules: nobody could get closer than 5km of the border. Farmers had to obtain specific authorization to tend to their produce; the partner could use the combine harvester but not the two, lest they sought to make a run for it. Soldiers stood watch.

Wider Background

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the East Germany extended nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to this location in the south. Berlin is recalled and honored the most frequently, but in excess of double the number people (exceeding 300) lost their lives attempting to pass over it in provincial zones than in the urban center. the director informs me that almost all of escape attempts failed.

Hamlet Life

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or artisans, who adapted to living in the ambiguous area between two ideological spheres by staying low-profile and caring for their fields. They nor did they backed the East German authorities nor resisted it, the director clarifies.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a type of destination. Approximately fifteen thousand came to visit every year, optical devices in their hands, to look – and then quickly go away. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was guided by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after merger, Tannbach, a television program about a fictional community similar to Mödlareuth, led to fresh interest.

Present-Day Changes

The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a restaurant, shop, film screening area and big parking lot – is likely to