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An brook so low you scarcely got your ankles wet separated a settlement for over four decades worth of time. Because of a chance of geography, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by evergreen groves, pastures and spectacular views, found themselves at the heart of the cold war. They had the misfortune to straddle Bavaria, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a frontier that was marked first by a fence and then by a partition. US troops nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Memorialising History

Months after their own division was opened, and prior to their nation had unified again in 1990, a collection of villagers started documenting their history. The project is soon to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth commemoration of the collapse of the Wall in Berlin, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly inaugurated by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show wasn’t quite ready. Addressing the villagers who experienced the past era, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an cruel separation, which pulled families apart and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were observers of an inhuman division, which ripped households asunder and turned local residents into strangers.”

Past Background

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the hamlet cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a princely house best known for giving all its male members the name Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the audience, the peculiarity was never an obstacle in the way of the residents socializing in the very same inn, visiting the very same place of worship and enrolling their children to the same school.

After the War Split

Then came the second world war. Immediately after they appeared, the Russian troops installed timber poles by the brook. For a twelve months they took over the complete hamlet, creating their control center in a house on the Bavarian territory side, decorating it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The American soldiers convinced them to withdraw across the brook. For a while, residents could continue to jump across, though as restrictions increased they were obliged to show identification, although all was aware who they were, and to come back at night.

Intensification of Frontier Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a wall was erected, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The locals could still view each other by climbing elevations, but on the Soviet side gesturing and yelling were forbidden. A female resident was placed on a East German secret police watch list for replying “likewise” to a Bavarian resident who said her “prosperous new year”.

Exhibition Center Creation

It was related to me accounts like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated a large part of his working life creating it. Locals were asked at an early stage about how how long a section barrier they wished to keep. They chose a portion on the Bavarian edge, adjacent to where one of their own was able to get away in the darkest hours with a ladder, after which the boundary was heavily strengthened.

Maintained Structures

Two watchtowers are maintained together with a series of displays depicting the most significant events in the community’s history. As we walk, Robert Lebegern details the rules: not a single person could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Farmers required particular approval to look after their produce; the partner could operate the combine harvester but under no circumstances the two, for fear that they sought to make a run for it. Armed guards were on duty.

Wider Context

The border between West Germany and the East Germany ran 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and honored the greatest, but more than two times more people (more than 300) lost their lives trying to cross it in provincial zones than in the metropolis. the director informs me that 95% of efforts to cross failed.

Hamlet Daily Living

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were agricultural workers or craftsmen, who adjusted to residing in the uncertain territory between 2 political systems by avoiding attention and tending to their fields. They nor did they endorsed the socialist government nor resisted it, Lebegern states.

Interest

For visitors, however, the hamlet became a sort of pilgrimage. Approximately 15,000 came to visit each year, optical devices in their hands, to look – and then quickly leave. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defence minister.

25 years after unification, the TV show, a television program about a made-up community resembling Mödlareuth, resulted in new interest.

Modern Developments

The opening of the new museum – with a restaurant, shop, film screening area and sizable vehicle area – is likely to