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An brook so shallow you barely got your ankles wet separated a village for in excess of four decades worth of time. By an accident of geography, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by pine forests, meadows and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a boundary that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a barricade. American soldiers nicknamed it Small Berlin.

Memorialising the Past

A few months after their own barrier was opened, and before their state had reunified in 1990, a collection of villagers started documenting their past. The project is close to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th commemoration of the fall of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was officially opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not completely prepared. Telling the residents who endured the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an inhuman division, which ripped relatives apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”

“You were observers of an brutal separation, which pulled households asunder and turned neighbors into strangers.”

Bygone Background

Even at its establishment in 1810, the village cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a princely house best known for bestowing all its male descendants the title Heinrich and counting them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the peculiarity was never an obstacle in the way of the residents drinking in the identical pub, attending the very same church and placing their children to the very same learning center.

Following WWII Split

Subsequently occurred the World War II. Immediately after they arrived, the Soviet forces put up wood stakes by the creek. For a year they seized the entire hamlet, establishing their headquarters in a building on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a image of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The Americans persuaded them to withdraw back over the brook. For a while, residents could still cross over, though as restrictions became stricter they were required to present identification, despite the fact that each person was aware who they were, and to return at night.

Intensification of Border Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the legal closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a concrete structure was built, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The residents could continue to observe each other by climbing slopes, but on the Soviet side signaling and shouting were banned. A local woman was put on a Stasi watch list for replying “likewise” to a western villager who greeted her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Development

It was related to me stories like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated a large part of his occupational time building it. Residents were consulted early on about how what length of barrier they wished to keep. They chose a portion on the west fringe, adjacent to where a local resident managed to escape in the dead of night with a ladder, following which the border was substantially fortified.

Preserved Buildings

2 observation towers are conserved in addition to a series of tableaux depicting the most dramatic moments in the hamlet’s history. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern lists the rules: not a single person could come within 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers had to obtain particular approval to tend to their crops; the spouse could use the agricultural equipment but never the pair, in case they sought to make a run for it. Armed guards kept guard.

Larger Background

The frontier between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic ran 1,400km, from the northern sea in the northern part to here in the south. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the most frequently, but in excess of double the number individuals (more than 300) lost their lives attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern tells me that 95% of attempts to flee were unsuccessful.

Community Life

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or craftsmen, who adapted to dwelling in the grey zone between 2 ideological spheres by staying low-profile and tending to their farms. They nor did they supported the socialist government nor fought it, Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For tourists, however, the hamlet became a kind of pilgrimage. Approximately 15k visited annually, viewing tools in possession, to stare – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was guided by the German defense official.

25 years after unification, the TV show, a broadcast production about a made-up village like Mödlareuth, led to new interest.

Present-Day Changes

The launch of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, boutique, film screening area and big vehicle area – is probable to