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A stream so narrow you barely got your feet wet separated a village for more than four decades of time. Because of a chance of topography, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a small village surrounded by pine forests, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to cross the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a frontier that was established first by a enclosure and then by a partition. US troops dubbed it Little Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Months after their own barrier was breached, and before their country had reunified in 1990, a assembly of residents began commemorating their past. The project is soon to reach completion: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth remembrance of the fall of the Wall in Berlin, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was formally inaugurated by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the display was not completely prepared. Addressing the locals who experienced the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an brutal separation, which pulled relatives apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”

“You were observers of an inhuman split, which tore relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Bygone Background

Even at its establishment in 1810, the community straddled the Bavarian Kingdom and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family most famous for giving all its men the designation Heinrich and labeling them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the quirk was never an obstacle in the manner of the locals socializing in the very same inn, visiting the very same religious building and sending their young ones to the very same educational institution.

Post-War Split

Then came the global conflict. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces installed wood stakes by the stream. For a year they seized the entire community, establishing their command in a building on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers convinced them to withdraw back over the creek. For a time, residents could continue to cross over, though as limitations became stricter they were obliged to display identification, although everyone was aware who they were, and to go back at evening.

Intensification of Border Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was erected, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The locals could still observe each other by ascending slopes, but on the east side gesturing and yelling were banned. A local woman was added to a Stasi monitoring list for answering “back at you” to a Bavarian villager who said her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

It was related to me stories such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated a significant portion of his professional career creating it. Locals were consulted at an early stage about how much structure they wished to maintain. They opted for a portion on the western perimeter, near where a villager was able to get away in the middle of the night with a ladder, following which the boundary was heavily fortified.

Conserved Structures

2 guard towers are maintained together with a set of displays illustrating the most dramatic moments in the hamlet’s past. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the rules: nobody could approach 5km of the frontier. Farmers required special permission to look after their fields; the spouse could operate the combine harvester but never both, for fear that they attempted to flee. Military personnel stood watch.

Broader Perspective

The boundary between Western Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran nearly 900 miles, from the northern sea in the north to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most frequently, but more than two times more individuals (well over 300) lost their lives seeking to traverse it in rural areas than in the metropolis. Lebegern tells me that 95% of attempts to flee were unsuccessful.

Village Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s locals were agricultural workers or craftsmen, who adjusted to residing in the grey zone between 2 political systems by keeping their heads down and caring for their fields. They nor did they endorsed the socialist government nor opposed it, Robert Lebegern states.

Visitors

For visitors, however, the village became a sort of destination. Approximately fifteen thousand came to see annually, optical devices in their hands, to stare – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after reunification, the television series, a broadcast production about a made-up community like Mödlareuth, led to new attention.

Present-Day Developments

The launch of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, boutique, movie theater and large vehicle area – is expected to