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An stream so shallow you scarcely got your feet wet divided a community for in excess of four decades worth of time. By an accident of landscape, the fifty locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by evergreen groves, pastures and breathtaking views, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the bad luck to straddle the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was marked first by a fence and then by a barricade. American soldiers nicknamed it Small Berlin.

Memorialising Historical Events

Several months after their own division was breached, and even before their state had unified again in 1990, a group of residents began documenting their history. The project is about to be completed: 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 officially inaugurated by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the exhibition wasn’t quite prepared. Speaking to the villagers who experienced the old days, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an inhuman separation, which ripped households asunder and turned neighbors into strangers.”

“You were observers of an brutal division, which ripped households into pieces and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Past Background

Right from its establishment in 1810, the hamlet straddled the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a princely house most famous for bestowing all its men the title Heinrich and counting them sequentially by birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the quirk never stood in the way of the inhabitants socializing in the same pub, going to the identical place of worship and sending their young ones to the same school.

Following WWII Division

Next arrived the second world war. Immediately after they appeared, the Russians erected wooden posts by the creek. For a twelve months they occupied the entire community, creating their command in a dwelling on the western side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces persuaded them to pull back back over the brook. For a while, residents could still cross over, though as controls became stricter they were forced to display ID, even though everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at evening.

Intensification of Border Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came wire fencing and the legal closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was erected, with explosives, tank traps and observation points. The residents could still view each other by ascending hills, but on the Soviet side gesturing and yelling were banned. One woman was added to a East German secret police surveillance list for replying “likewise” to a western resident who wished her “happy new year”.

Exhibition Center Development

It was related to me narratives including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated a significant portion of his professional career developing it. Villagers were asked at an early stage about how much structure they desired to preserve. They opted for a portion on the west fringe, close to where a local resident was able to escape in the dead of night with a scaling tool, following which the frontier was heavily strengthened.

Conserved Structures

A pair of guard towers are maintained alongside a series of tableaux illustrating the most impactful moments in the hamlet’s history. As we walk, Robert Lebegern details the restrictions: not a single person could approach 5km of the boundary. Farmers had to obtain particular approval to tend to their produce; the spouse could use the agricultural equipment but never both, in case they sought to escape. Military personnel were on duty.

Larger Perspective

The frontier between the Federal Republic and the GDR stretched 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the greatest, but over twice as many people (well over 300) were killed attempting to cross it in provincial zones than in the big city. the director reminds me that almost all of efforts to cross did not succeed.

Community Life

Most of Mödlareuth’s locals were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adjusted to living in the uncertain territory between 2 political systems by keeping their heads down and caring for their land. They nor did they supported the socialist government nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern states.

Visitors

For tourists, however, the village became a kind of pilgrimage. Approximately 15k came to visit annually, optical devices in their hands, to stare – and then rapidly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after merger, the TV show, a television program about a imaginary community like Mödlareuth, resulted in new attention.

Modern Changes

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a cafe, shop, film screening area and large car park – is probable to