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An brook so low you scarcely got your ankles wet separated a village for over four decades of time. Due to a quirk of landscape, the half a hundred locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet surrounded by coniferous woods, meadows and breathtaking vistas, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the misfortune to cross the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the Eastern part, a border that was demarcated first by a enclosure and then by a barricade. American soldiers called it Little Berlin.

Commemorating the Past

Several months after their own division was torn down, and before their country had unified again in 1990, a group of residents started documenting their heritage. 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 inaugurate. It was officially launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display wasn’t quite prepared. Addressing the locals who endured the past era, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an cruel separation, which tore families apart and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

“You were observers of an inhuman division, which pulled families into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Historical Context

Even at its establishment in 1810, the community straddled the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a noble lineage most renowned for bestowing all its men the title Heinrich and labeling them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier told the audience, the oddity was never an obstacle in the way of the locals socializing in the identical pub, attending the identical place of worship and placing their young ones to the identical learning center.

Post-War Division

Subsequently occurred the second world war. The moment they appeared, the Russian troops installed wood stakes by the stream. For a twelve months they took over the whole community, creating their control center in a dwelling on the western side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces convinced them to pull back across the brook. For a time, locals could still hop over, though as controls increased they were forced to show identification, despite the fact that all understood who they were, and to return at evening.

Escalation of Frontier Measures

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the legal shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The residents could continue to observe each other by climbing hills, but on the Soviet side signaling and calling out were prohibited. A female resident was added to a Stasi monitoring list for responding “back at you” to a Bavarian resident who said her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

I heard narratives such as these by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated a significant portion of his professional career creating it. Villagers were polled in the initial phases about how what length of barrier they wished to maintain. They opted for a portion on the west edge, adjacent to where one of their own succeeded to get away in the middle of the night with a climbing device, subsequently the boundary was significantly strengthened.

Preserved Installations

Two guard towers are conserved together with a series of displays depicting the most impactful moments in the village’s past. As we move, Lebergen details the rules: no one could come within 5km of the frontier. Rural residents had to obtain particular approval to look after their crops; the spouse could operate the combine harvester but not the pair, for fear that they attempted to flee. Armed guards were on duty.

Wider Background

The border between West Germany and the East Germany stretched 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the most, but in excess of two times more individuals (well over 300) lost their lives attempting to cross it in provincial zones than in the urban center. Lebegern reminds me that 95 percent of escape attempts failed.

Village Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or craftsmen, who accommodated to living in the grey zone between 2 political systems by avoiding attention and caring for their farms. They did not backed the socialist government nor opposed it, the director clarifies.

Interest

For visitors, however, the village became a sort of site of interest. About fifteen thousand came to visit every year, binoculars in their hands, to gawp – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was guided by the national security head.

Twenty-five years after merger, the television series, a broadcast production about a made-up hamlet like Mödlareuth, led to new attention.

Current Changes

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a restaurant, shop, film screening area and large car park – is expected to