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An stream so shallow you hardly got your ankles wet split a village for over four decades of time. Because of a chance of landscape, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a hamlet surrounded by coniferous woods, meadows and stunning views, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the bad luck to span Bavaria, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a frontier that was marked first by a enclosure and then by a wall. American soldiers dubbed it Mini Berlin.

Memorialising the Past

A few months after their own barrier was torn down, and prior to their nation had unified again in 1990, a assembly of villagers began documenting their heritage. The project is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth remembrance of the collapse of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was formally opened by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the display was not completely prepared. Speaking to the villagers who experienced the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were witnesses of an cruel split, which tore relatives asunder and turned neighbours into aliens.”

“You were observers of an brutal separation, which ripped families into pieces and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Historical Background

Right from its establishment in 1810, the hamlet straddled the Royal Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a princely house most renowned for bestowing all its men the name Heinrich and numbering them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the peculiarity never stood in the path of the residents socializing in the very same inn, visiting the same religious building and enrolling their young ones to the very same learning center.

Post-War Separation

Then came the World War II. Immediately after they came, the Soviet forces put up wood stakes by the brook. For a year they occupied the complete hamlet, setting up their headquarters in a building on the Bavarian territory side, decorating it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers persuaded them to withdraw back over the stream. For a period, residents could still cross over, though as limitations became stricter they were forced to show identification, although everyone knew who they were, and to come back at evening.

Intensification of Border Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came wire fencing and the official sealing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a wall was built, with landmines, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The residents could still observe each other by scaling slopes, but on the eastern side gesturing and yelling were prohibited. A female resident was placed on a GDR intelligence surveillance list for responding “back at you” to a western villager who wished her “happy new year”.

Museum Establishment

I was told stories like these by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has devoted a significant portion of his professional career creating it. Locals were asked early on about how how long a section wall they wanted to maintain. They opted for a portion on the western perimeter, close to where a local resident was able to get away in the darkest hours with a climbing device, following which the boundary was substantially strengthened.

Preserved Buildings

A pair of watchtowers are conserved in addition to a collection of exhibits illustrating the most dramatic dates in the village’s chronicle. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern details the rules: nobody could approach 5km of the border. Agricultural workers had to obtain special permission to tend to their produce; the spouse could operate the combine harvester but under no circumstances the two, in case they tried to flee. Military personnel kept guard.

Wider Perspective

The frontier between West Germany and the East Germany stretched 1,400km, from the Baltic coast in the north to this location in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and documented the most frequently, but over double the number individuals (exceeding 300) lost their lives seeking to pass over it in provincial zones than in the big city. Robert Lebegern tells me that 95 percent of attempts to flee failed.

Community Existence

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adjusted to dwelling in the uncertain territory between 2 belief systems by avoiding attention and tending to their land. They nor did they supported the socialist government nor opposed it, Lebegern clarifies.

Tourism

For tourists, however, the settlement became a type of site of interest. About 15k came to visit annually, optical devices in possession, to gawp – and then quickly depart. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after unification, Tannbach, a broadcast production about a made-up village resembling Mödlareuth, caused renewed attention.

Modern Changes

The opening of the recently established museum – with a cafe, store, film screening area and large parking lot – is expected to