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An creek so narrow you scarcely got your feet wet split a village for more than four decades. By an accident of topography, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement bordered by pine forests, meadows and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was established first by a barrier and then by a wall. American soldiers dubbed it Mini Berlin.

Memorialising Historical Events

A few months after their own barrier was opened, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a group of residents set about commemorating their heritage. The project is soon to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the collapse of the Wall in Berlin, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was publicly opened by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the show wasn’t quite ready. Addressing the residents who experienced the past era, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an brutal separation, which tore relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into strangers.”

“You were witnesses of an cruel separation, which ripped families asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Past Background

Even at its establishment in 1810, the village spanned the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage most renowned for assigning all its male descendants the title Heinrich and counting them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the peculiarity did not stand in the way of the residents socializing in the identical inn, visiting the same religious building and sending their children to the same learning center.

Following WWII Separation

Subsequently occurred the second world war. As soon as they came, the Russians erected wood stakes by the stream. For a annual period they took over the complete hamlet, creating their command in a building on the Bavarian side, decorating it with a portrait of Stalin and a communist symbol. The American soldiers urged them to pull back to the other side of the stream. For a period, locals could still cross over, though as restrictions increased they were required to present identification, although everyone knew who they were, and to return at after dark.

Intensification of Frontier Controls

Then, in 1952, came wire fencing and the official closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a wall was constructed, with landmines, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The locals could continue to view each other by ascending elevations, but on the Soviet side gesturing and shouting were prohibited. A female resident was placed on a East German secret police surveillance list for replying “same to you” to a western resident who greeted her “good new year”.

Museum Development

I heard stories including these by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated much of his professional career creating it. Villagers were asked in the initial phases about how much structure they wished to maintain. They opted for a portion on the western edge, close to where one of their own succeeded to escape in the dead of night with a climbing device, following which the frontier was substantially fortified.

Preserved Installations

A pair of observation towers are maintained together with a collection of displays illustrating the most significant moments in the hamlet’s past. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the regulations: no one could approach 5km of the frontier. Agricultural workers had to obtain special permission to care for their crops; the partner could operate the harvesting machine but under no circumstances both, lest they sought to make a run for it. Military personnel kept guard.

Broader Background

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the East Germany ran nearly 900 miles, from the northern sea in the north to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the greatest, but over double the number individuals (well over 300) were killed seeking to pass over it in provincial zones than in the big city. Lebegern informs me that 95% of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Community Life

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adapted to dwelling in the ambiguous area between a pair of ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and tending to their land. They nor did they supported the socialist government nor fought it, Lebegern clarifies.

Visitors

For tourists, however, the village became a sort of pilgrimage. About fifteen thousand came to visit every year, binoculars in possession, 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 unification, the television series, a television program about a imaginary community resembling Mödlareuth, led to new attention.

Current Evolutions

The launch of the recently established museum – with a restaurant, boutique, cinema room and big vehicle area – is expected to