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An stream so low you hardly got your ankles wet separated a village for over four decades of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the half a hundred inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement bordered by coniferous woods, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a frontier that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a wall. US troops dubbed it Small Berlin.

Memorialising History

Months after their own wall was breached, and even before their state had unified again in 1990, a group of villagers began commemorating their heritage. The effort is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth commemoration of the fall of the Wall in Berlin, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the exhibition was not entirely prepared. Addressing the locals who lived through the old days, Steinmeier said: “You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which ripped relatives apart and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

“You were observers of an cruel split, which pulled relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Past Context

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the hamlet cut across the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a princely house most renowned for bestowing all its men the title Heinrich and counting them sequentially by birth order. As Steinmeier informed the audience, the quirk was never an obstacle in the path of the inhabitants gathering in the identical pub, visiting the very same place of worship and sending their young ones to the same school.

Post-War Split

Then came the second world war. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces erected wood stakes by the stream. For a annual period they seized the whole community, creating their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The US forces convinced them to retreat to the other side of the brook. For a period, villagers could still cross over, though as limitations tightened they were obliged to show identity papers, despite the fact that each person was aware who they were, and to return at night.

Intensification of Frontier Measures

Then, in 1952, came barbed wire and the legal closing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a barrier was constructed, with landmines, anti-tank obstacles and watchtowers. The residents could continue to observe each other by scaling elevations, but on the east side signaling and yelling were banned. One woman was put on a Stasi surveillance list for responding “back at you” to a western villager who greeted her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Development

I heard stories such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has spent a significant portion of his occupational time building it. Locals were asked early on about how much wall they wanted to keep. They opted for a section on the western perimeter, close to where one of their own managed to escape in the darkest hours with a climbing device, subsequently the boundary was heavily strengthened.

Maintained Structures

2 guard towers are conserved in addition to a set of displays illustrating the most impactful events in the community’s history. As we move, the director details the restrictions: no one could approach 5km of the border. Agricultural workers required special permission to look after their crops; the husband or wife could use the agricultural equipment but not the two, lest they attempted to make a run for it. Armed guards were on duty.

Broader Perspective

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the GDR extended 1,400km, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and honored the most, but more than twice as many people (well over 300) lost their lives trying to pass over it in provincial zones than in the big city. Robert Lebegern tells me that almost all of efforts to cross did not succeed.

Village Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s locals were rural laborers or artisans, who adapted to living in the ambiguous area between a pair of belief systems by keeping their heads down and looking after their farms. They did not supported the communist regime nor fought it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For tourists, however, the village became a kind of site of interest. About 15k visited each year, optical devices in their hands, to gawp – and then rapidly go away. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after unification, Tannbach, a broadcast production about a made-up community like Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed curiosity.

Current Changes

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a coffee shop, boutique, cinema room and large vehicle area – is probable to