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An creek so shallow you barely got your ankles wet divided a settlement for over four decades. Because of a chance of landscape, the half a hundred locals of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by pine forests, pastures and stunning vistas, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the misfortune to straddle the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a frontier that was marked first by a enclosure and then by a wall. American soldiers nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Commemorating Historical Events

A few months after their own wall was opened, and even before their country had reunified in 1990, a collection of residents set about memorialising their past. The work is close to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the demolition of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was formally opened by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the display wasn’t quite finished. Telling the locals who lived through the past era, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an cruel split, which tore relatives apart and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were witnesses of an cruel division, which tore relatives into pieces and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Bygone Context

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the hamlet straddled the Royal Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a noble lineage most famous for bestowing all its male members the name Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the peculiarity did not stand in the way of the residents drinking in the very same inn, attending the same religious building and placing their kids to the very same educational institution.

After the War Separation

Subsequently occurred the global conflict. As soon as they came, the Russian troops erected timber poles by the stream. For a twelve months they took over the complete community, establishing their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a image of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers convinced them to retreat back over the stream. For a time, residents could still cross over, though as controls tightened they were required to show identity papers, even though everyone was aware who they were, and to go back at evening.

Escalation of Border Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the formal shutting of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a wall was built, with explosives, tank traps and observation points. The locals could continue to observe each other by ascending slopes, but on the Soviet side waving and calling out were banned. A local woman was added to a East German secret police watch list for replying “back at you” to a Bavarian local who wished her “prosperous new year”.

Museum Development

I heard accounts including these by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has spent a large part of his occupational time creating it. Residents were polled early on about how how long a section structure they wanted to maintain. They chose a stretch on the western fringe, close to where a villager succeeded to escape in the darkest hours with a climbing device, subsequently the boundary was substantially strengthened.

Maintained Structures

A pair of observation towers are maintained alongside a set of displays illustrating the most impactful moments in the community’s history. As we move, the director lists the restrictions: nobody could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Rural residents needed specific authorization to look after their produce; the spouse could use the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances the two, for fear that they sought to flee. Armed guards kept guard.

Wider Perspective

The frontier between Western Germany and the GDR stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the north to here in the south. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the most, but in excess of double the number individuals (exceeding 300) were killed attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern informs me that 95 percent of efforts to cross were unsuccessful.

Community Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s locals were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who accommodated to residing in the uncertain territory between a pair of ideological spheres by staying low-profile and caring for their land. They nor did they supported the socialist government nor fought it, the director clarifies.

Interest

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a type of destination. About 15,000 visited annually, viewing tools in possession, to stare – and then swiftly go away. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after reunification, the television series, a television program about a made-up hamlet like Mödlareuth, led to new curiosity.

Current Evolutions

The launch of the recently established museum – with a cafe, boutique, film screening area and large car park – is expected to