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An creek so low you scarcely got your ankles wet divided a village for in excess of four decades. By an accident of topography, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by coniferous woods, pastures and spectacular views, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to cross the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was established first by a enclosure and then by a partition. American soldiers called it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating History

Months after their own division was opened, and prior to their country had reunified in 1990, a assembly of residents began memorialising their history. The project is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was publicly opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not completely prepared. Addressing the villagers who lived through the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were witnesses of an cruel split, which ripped households apart and turned neighbours into aliens.”

“You were observers of an cruel separation, which pulled households into pieces and turned neighbours into strangers.”

Historical Origins

Even at its founding in 1810, the village spanned the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a noble lineage most famous for bestowing all its male members the name Heinrich and labeling them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier informed the crowd, the quirk was never an obstacle in the way of the locals socializing in the identical tavern, attending the same religious building and placing their children to the very same school.

Following WWII Separation

Then came the World War II. The moment they appeared, the Russian troops installed timber poles by the creek. For a twelve months they took over the entire hamlet, setting up their command in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The US forces convinced them to withdraw back over the brook. For a period, villagers could still hop over, though as limitations increased they were required to display ID, although everyone was aware who they were, and to go back at night.

Intensification of Frontier Measures

Then, in 1952, came barbed wire and the legal shutting of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and observation points. The locals could still observe each other by ascending hills, but on the eastern side signaling and calling out were forbidden. One woman was placed on a Stasi watch list for answering “back at you” to a West German resident who wished her “happy new year”.

Museum Establishment

I heard narratives such as 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 at an early stage about how what length of barrier they wanted to keep. They opted for a stretch on the western fringe, near where one of their own was able to flee in the darkest hours with a scaling tool, subsequently the boundary was significantly reinforced.

Conserved Buildings

A pair of guard towers are maintained alongside a series of displays depicting the most dramatic events in the village’s past. As we stroll, Lebergen details the restrictions: nobody could get closer than 5km of the border. Agricultural workers required specific authorization to care for their produce; the husband or wife could operate the agricultural equipment but never the two, for fear that they tried to escape. Soldiers kept guard.

Larger Context

The boundary between Western Germany and the East Germany extended 1,400km, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the greatest, but more than two times more persons (more than 300) were killed trying to cross it in countryside regions than in the big city. Lebegern tells me that 95 percent of efforts to cross did not succeed.

Hamlet Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adapted to residing in the grey zone between two political systems by avoiding attention and looking after their land. They did not endorsed the East German authorities nor resisted it, Lebegern states.

Tourism

For sightseers, however, the village became a sort of pilgrimage. About 15k came to visit annually, optical devices in their hands, to look – and then quickly leave. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was guided by the German defense official.

25 years after unification, the TV show, a TV series about a made-up community resembling Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed attention.

Current Evolutions

The opening of the new museum – with a restaurant, boutique, film screening area and big parking lot – is expected to