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A creek so narrow you barely got your feet wet split a community for in excess of four decades of time. By an accident of geography, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by evergreen groves, meadows and stunning scenery, found themselves at the center of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a boundary that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a wall. United States military personnel dubbed it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating Historical Events

A few months after their own barrier was torn down, and prior to their nation had reunified in 1990, a collection of residents set about documenting their heritage. The work is about to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th annual remembrance of the demolition of the German barrier, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was formally opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the show wasn’t quite finished. Telling the residents who endured the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an cruel split, which ripped households asunder and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were observers of an inhuman separation, which ripped families into pieces and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

Past Context

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the hamlet cut across the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a noble lineage best known for bestowing all its male descendants the title Heinrich and labeling them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the peculiarity did not stand in the manner of the inhabitants gathering in the very same inn, attending the very same religious building and placing their young ones to the identical school.

Following WWII Division

Subsequently occurred the second world war. Immediately after they appeared, the Soviet forces put up timber poles by the stream. For a annual period they occupied the whole village, setting up their command in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, embellishing it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The US forces convinced them to retreat across the brook. For a time, villagers could still cross over, though as controls increased they were obliged to present ID, although everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at night.

Escalation of Frontier Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was constructed, with explosives, anti-tank obstacles and observation points. The residents could still view each other by ascending hills, but on the east side signaling and yelling were banned. A local woman was placed on a East German secret police monitoring list for replying “likewise” to a western villager who said her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

I was told stories such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent much of his working life creating it. Villagers were asked in the initial phases about how how long a section barrier they wished to preserve. They opted for a stretch on the Bavarian perimeter, adjacent to where one of their own succeeded to flee in the dead of night with a climbing device, after which the border was heavily reinforced.

Preserved Buildings

Two guard towers are conserved in addition to a collection of tableaux showing the most significant moments in the village’s past. As we move, Robert Lebegern details the restrictions: not a single person could approach 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers needed particular approval to care for their fields; the partner could use the combine harvester but not both, in case they sought to flee. Military personnel were on duty.

Broader Background

The frontier between Western Germany and the East Germany stretched 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the north to this location in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and documented the most, but more than twice as many persons (more than 300) lost their lives trying to pass over it in countryside regions than in the urban center. Lebegern tells me that 95% of efforts to cross failed.

Village Life

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were rural laborers or artisans, who accommodated to dwelling in the grey zone between two political systems by avoiding attention and caring for their land. They did not backed the East German authorities nor resisted it, Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For visitors, however, the village became a sort of pilgrimage. Approximately fifteen thousand visited annually, viewing tools in possession, to stare – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after reunification, Tannbach, a television program about a imaginary community similar to Mödlareuth, led to renewed interest.

Present-Day Developments

The launch of the new museum – with a cafe, boutique, film screening area and large vehicle area – is expected to