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An brook so shallow you scarcely got your feet wet separated a settlement for more than four decades of time. Due to a quirk of landscape, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by pine forests, meadows and stunning scenery, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War tensions. They had the misfortune to span the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was established first by a barrier and then by a barricade. American soldiers nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Memorialising the Past

Several months after their own division was breached, and even before their country had reunified in 1990, a assembly of local people set about documenting their history. The project is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th remembrance of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was publicly launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display was not entirely prepared. Telling the residents who experienced the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which ripped families asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were witnesses of an inhuman separation, which pulled relatives apart and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Past Context

Right from its founding in 1810, the community straddled the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a royal family most renowned for bestowing all its male members the designation Heinrich and counting them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the quirk did not stand in the path of the residents drinking in the same inn, going to the same church and enrolling their children to the identical educational institution.

After the War Separation

Then came the second world war. The moment they arrived, the Russian troops installed timber poles by the stream. For a twelve months they took over the entire hamlet, setting up their headquarters in a building on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The Americans persuaded them to retreat to the other side of the stream. For a time, locals could still jump across, though as limitations tightened they were obliged to show identification, although everyone understood who they were, and to return at after dark.

Intensification of Frontier Measures

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official closing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a barrier was constructed, with landmines, anti-tank obstacles and observation points. The residents could still see each other by ascending slopes, but on the east side gesturing and shouting were banned. A local woman was placed on a East German secret police watch list for responding “back at you” to a West German resident who wished her “happy new year”.

Museum Development

It was related to me narratives including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent a significant portion of his occupational time developing it. Locals were polled at an early stage about how much barrier they wished to preserve. They opted for a section on the Bavarian edge, close to where a villager managed to escape in the dead of night with a ladder, subsequently the border was significantly fortified.

Maintained Structures

Two watchtowers are maintained in addition to a series of tableaux showing the most impactful dates in the community’s history. As we stroll, Lebergen details the restrictions: not a single person could approach 5km of the border. Agricultural workers had to obtain particular approval to care for their crops; the partner could use the harvesting machine but never the two, for fear that they sought to flee. Military personnel were on duty.

Broader Context

The frontier between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic stretched 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the greatest, but over double the number people (exceeding 300) were killed attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the urban center. the director reminds me that 95% of efforts to cross failed.

Community Daily Living

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or craftsmen, who adjusted to residing in the uncertain territory between two ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and looking after their land. They nor did they endorsed the socialist government nor opposed it, Lebegern explains.

Tourism

For visitors, however, the settlement became a sort of pilgrimage. Approximately 15,000 came to visit annually, viewing tools in their hands, to stare – and then rapidly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was guided by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after merger, the television series, a broadcast production about a imaginary village resembling Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed interest.

Modern Changes

The launch of the recently established museum – with a cafe, shop, cinema room and sizable vehicle area – is likely to