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A creek so shallow you barely got your ankles wet split a village for in excess of four decades of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by coniferous woods, fields and stunning views, found themselves at the heart of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a barricade. US troops nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Memorialising the Past

Several months after their own wall was opened, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a collection of residents set about commemorating their past. The work is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the demolition of the Wall in Berlin, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the exhibition was not completely ready. Speaking to the villagers who experienced the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were witnesses of an brutal separation, which tore relatives asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were witnesses of an inhuman division, which ripped households into pieces and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Historical Origins

Right from its founding in 1810, the community spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a princely house best known for bestowing all its male descendants the designation Heinrich and labeling them in order by birth. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the peculiarity was never an obstacle in the way of the residents socializing in the same pub, attending the very same place of worship and sending their young ones to the identical educational institution.

Post-War Separation

Next arrived the global conflict. Immediately after they appeared, the Russian troops put up timber poles by the brook. For a annual period they seized the complete hamlet, setting up their command in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces urged them to retreat across the brook. For a time, villagers could still cross over, though as restrictions became stricter they were obliged to show identity papers, although everyone understood who they were, and to return at night.

Increase of Frontier Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was built, with mines, anti-tank obstacles and guard posts. The locals could continue to observe each other by ascending slopes, but on the Soviet side signaling and shouting were prohibited. A female resident was put on a East German secret police surveillance list for replying “back at you” to a western local who said her “good new year”.

Museum Establishment

I was told narratives like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has devoted a significant portion of his professional career building it. Residents were polled at an early stage about how how long a section wall they wanted to preserve. They opted for a stretch on the Bavarian fringe, close to where a villager was able to escape in the darkest hours with a climbing device, subsequently the frontier was heavily reinforced.

Preserved Structures

A pair of observation towers are preserved together with a collection of displays showing the most impactful dates in the village’s history. As we move, the director details the regulations: no one could get closer than 5km of the frontier. Farmers had to obtain specific authorization to tend to their fields; the partner could operate the harvesting machine but under no circumstances both, in case they tried to flee. Soldiers were on duty.

Larger Context

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic stretched 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic Sea in the north to here in the south. Berlin is remembered and honored the most, but over double the number individuals (more than 300) lost their lives seeking to pass over it in provincial zones than in the big city. Lebegern reminds me that 95% of escape attempts did not succeed.

Village Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or artisans, who adapted to dwelling in the grey zone between 2 belief systems by keeping their heads down and tending to their fields. They did not endorsed the communist regime nor opposed it, Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For visitors, however, the village became a type of site of interest. Approximately 15,000 came to see annually, optical devices in possession, to gawp – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the national security head.

Twenty five years after unification, the television series, a TV series about a fictional village resembling Mödlareuth, caused fresh attention.

Modern Evolutions

The inauguration of the new museum – with a restaurant, boutique, movie theater and big car park – is probable to