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An brook so narrow you scarcely got your feet wet divided a community for in excess of four decades. By an accident of landscape, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by pine forests, meadows and breathtaking views, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War tensions. They had the bad luck to span Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a boundary that was established first by a enclosure and then by a barricade. US troops dubbed it Mini Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Several months after their own division was breached, and prior to their country had become one in 1990, a collection of residents began memorialising their history. The project is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was formally inaugurated by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the show was not completely ready. Speaking to the residents who lived through the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an cruel division, which ripped households apart and turned neighbors into aliens.”

“You were observers of an brutal division, which pulled relatives apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”

Bygone Context

Right from its creation in 1810, the hamlet cut across the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a royal family most famous for bestowing all its men the designation Heinrich and numbering them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the crowd, the peculiarity did not stand in the way of the inhabitants socializing in the identical tavern, going to the very same religious building and placing their children to the very same educational institution.

Post-War Split

Then came the global conflict. Immediately after they appeared, the Russian troops installed timber poles by the stream. For a annual period they took over the complete community, setting up their control center in a building on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers convinced them to withdraw across the brook. For a period, locals could still hop over, though as controls increased they were required to show ID, despite the fact that all was aware who they were, and to come back at after dark.

Increase of Border Restrictions

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and observation points. The residents could still view each other by ascending slopes, but on the Soviet side signaling and calling out were banned. A local woman was placed on a East German secret police surveillance list for replying “likewise” to a Bavarian local who wished her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

I was told stories such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has devoted much of his working life developing it. Residents were consulted early on about how what length of wall they wanted to maintain. They chose a portion on the western fringe, near where one of their own managed to escape in the middle of the night with a ladder, following which the border was heavily strengthened.

Maintained Buildings

Two guard towers are preserved in addition to a set of tableaux depicting the most dramatic dates in the hamlet’s past. As we stroll, Lebergen enumerates the rules: no one could come within 5km of the boundary. Rural residents required specific authorization to look after their crops; the partner could use the combine harvester but not the pair, for fear that they attempted to escape. Armed guards kept guard.

Broader Background

The border between the Federal Republic and the GDR stretched 1,400km, from the northern sea in the north to the south in the south. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most, but in excess of double the number people (well over 300) lost their lives attempting to pass over it in rural areas than in the big city. Robert Lebegern informs me that almost all of attempts to flee were unsuccessful.

Village Daily Living

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s villagers were agricultural workers or artisans, who adjusted to living in the uncertain territory between 2 ideological spheres by staying low-profile and looking after their farms. They nor did they supported the East German authorities nor opposed it, Lebegern explains.

Interest

For sightseers, however, the hamlet became a type of site of interest. Approximately 15,000 visited annually, optical devices in their hands, to look – and then quickly depart. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was given a tour by the national security head.

Twenty-five years after merger, the TV show, a broadcast production about a made-up village similar to Mödlareuth, caused new attention.

Modern Evolutions

The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, boutique, movie theater and large car park – is likely to