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An stream so narrow you hardly got your ankles wet divided a settlement for in excess of four decades of time. By an accident of geography, the 50 locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by pine forests, meadows and breathtaking scenery, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a frontier that was marked first by a barrier and then by a wall. United States military personnel called it Mini Berlin.

Preserving History

Months after their own division was breached, and prior to their country had unified again in 1990, a group of residents set about commemorating their past. The effort is close to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th anniversary of the fall of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was officially launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not completely ready. Speaking to the locals who lived through the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an cruel separation, which ripped families apart and turned neighbours into aliens.”

“You were bystanders of an brutal split, which ripped households into pieces and turned neighbors into aliens.”

Historical Background

Right from its founding in 1810, the community cut across the Bavarian Kingdom and the Principality of Reuss, a princely house most famous for giving all its male members the designation Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the oddity was never an obstacle in the path of the inhabitants socializing in the very same pub, attending the very same church and placing their young ones to the very same educational institution.

Following WWII Division

Then came the second world war. Immediately after they came, the Russians installed timber poles by the brook. For a twelve months they seized the entire community, setting up their command in a dwelling on the western side, adorning it with a portrait of Stalin and a communist symbol. The Americans persuaded them to pull back to the other side of the brook. For a period, residents could still hop over, though as limitations tightened they were forced to present ID, although everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at evening.

Increase of Boundary Measures

Subsequently, in 1952, came barbed wire and the legal shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a wall was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The residents could still observe each other by ascending elevations, but on the east side gesturing and shouting were prohibited. One woman was placed on a GDR intelligence surveillance list for replying “same to you” to a western local who wished her “prosperous new year”.

Exhibition Center Creation

It was related to me narratives such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has devoted much of his professional career developing it. Villagers were polled in the initial phases about how much structure they wished to maintain. They chose a section on the western edge, near where a villager succeeded to flee in the middle of the night with a climbing device, subsequently the frontier was substantially strengthened.

Maintained Installations

Two observation towers are maintained alongside a collection of displays depicting the most significant dates in the village’s chronicle. As we stroll, Lebergen details the restrictions: no one could approach 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers had to obtain specific authorization to care for their fields; the spouse could work the combine harvester but never the pair, in case they attempted to make a run for it. Soldiers were on duty.

Larger Context

The border between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic extended 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the north to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most frequently, but over twice as many individuals (well over 300) died attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the big city. Robert Lebegern reminds me that 95% of attempts to flee failed.

Hamlet Life

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s villagers were agricultural workers or craftsmen, who accommodated to dwelling in the uncertain territory between a pair of ideological spheres by avoiding attention and tending to their farms. They did not endorsed the East German authorities nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern explains.

Tourism

For visitors, however, the hamlet became a type of destination. Roughly fifteen thousand came to visit each year, binoculars in their hands, to look – and then rapidly go away. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the national security head.

Twenty-five years after unification, the television series, a TV series about a made-up village like Mödlareuth, resulted in new interest.

Present-Day Developments

The opening of the new museum – with a coffee shop, shop, film screening area and large car park – is probable to