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An brook so low you hardly got your feet wet split a community for in excess of four decades of time. Due to a quirk of geography, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by pine forests, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross Bavaria, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a partition. American soldiers called it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating Historical Events

Months after their own division was breached, and before their nation had unified again in 1990, a assembly of villagers set about documenting their history. The project is soon to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th commemoration of the fall of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially inaugurated by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the show was not completely finished. Speaking to the residents who lived through the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were observers of an inhuman split, which ripped households asunder and turned neighbors into aliens.”

“You were witnesses of an cruel split, which pulled households asunder and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

Historical Origins

Even at its creation in 1810, the hamlet cut across the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a princely house most famous for bestowing all its male members the designation Heinrich and counting them in order by birth. As Steinmeier informed the audience, the quirk did not stand in the way of the inhabitants drinking in the identical inn, attending the identical religious building and enrolling their young ones to the very same school.

After the War Split

Next arrived the World War II. The moment they came, the Russians installed timber poles by the creek. For a year they seized the complete hamlet, setting up their control center in a building on the western side, embellishing it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers convinced them to pull back back over the creek. For a time, residents could still cross over, though as restrictions became stricter they were required to display identification, even though each person was aware who they were, and to go back at night.

Increase of Boundary Controls

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the official closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a concrete structure was built, with mines, anti-tank obstacles and guard posts. The villagers could still see each other by ascending slopes, but on the Soviet side gesturing and yelling were prohibited. A female resident was placed on a GDR intelligence watch list for replying “back at you” to a western villager who wished her “prosperous new year”.

Exhibition Center Development

It was related to me accounts like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated much of his professional career building it. Residents were polled early on about how what length of structure they desired to maintain. They selected a portion on the western perimeter, adjacent to where a villager succeeded to flee in the darkest hours with a ladder, following which the boundary was substantially strengthened.

Maintained Installations

2 observation towers are maintained in addition to a set of exhibits depicting the most significant moments in the village’s history. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the rules: no one could come within 5km of the frontier. Farmers had to obtain specific authorization to tend to their fields; the partner could work the harvesting machine but not both, lest they tried to escape. Armed guards kept guard.

Larger Context

The border between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran 1,400km, from the Baltic coast in the north to the south in the southern region. Berlin is remembered and memorialised the greatest, but in excess of double the number persons (exceeding 300) were killed trying to pass over it in countryside regions than in the big city. the director tells me that 95 percent of escape attempts failed.

Hamlet Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or skilled workers, who adapted to residing in the ambiguous area between a pair of political systems by staying low-profile and caring for their land. They did not endorsed the socialist government nor fought it, the director states.

Tourism

For visitors, however, the settlement became a kind of destination. Approximately 15k came to visit annually, viewing tools in hand, to look – and then rapidly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

25 years after unification, the television series, a broadcast production about a made-up community like Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed attention.

Current Changes

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, shop, cinema room and large parking lot – is likely to