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A stream so low you barely got your feet wet separated a settlement for more than four decades of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by evergreen groves, meadows and stunning vistas, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to span the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a boundary that was established first by a barrier and then by a barricade. United States military personnel dubbed it Small Berlin.

Preserving History

Months after their own barrier was torn down, and even before their nation had reunified in 1990, a group of local people set about commemorating their history. The effort is close to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the demolition of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was formally opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not entirely finished. Addressing the locals who lived through the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an cruel split, which tore families apart and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were bystanders of an inhuman split, which ripped households asunder and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Historical Background

Even at its founding in 1810, the village spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a princely house most renowned for bestowing all its men the designation Heinrich and numbering them sequentially by birth. As Steinmeier told the audience, the oddity did not stand in the manner of the residents socializing in the identical tavern, attending the same place of worship and sending their young ones to the same school.

Post-War Division

Then came the World War II. As soon as they appeared, the Russian troops erected wood stakes by the stream. For a twelve months they took over the whole village, establishing their command in a house on the western side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces persuaded them to retreat back over the brook. For a time, villagers could still cross over, though as controls increased they were obliged to display identity papers, even though each person knew who they were, and to return at evening.

Increase of Border Measures

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal sealing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was constructed, with landmines, tank traps and guard posts. The villagers could continue to view each other by ascending hills, but on the Soviet side gesturing and calling out were prohibited. One woman was added to a Stasi surveillance list for responding “likewise” to a western villager who said her “happy new year”.

Museum Development

I heard accounts such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated a significant portion of his occupational time building it. Locals were asked early on about how what length of wall they wanted to keep. They opted for a portion on the western perimeter, close to where a villager succeeded to flee in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, after which the boundary was heavily fortified.

Preserved Buildings

Two watchtowers are conserved in addition to a collection of tableaux illustrating the most dramatic dates in the community’s past. As we stroll, Lebergen details the regulations: no one could get closer than 5km of the border. Agricultural workers needed specific authorization to look after their crops; the partner could use the harvesting machine but not the two, in case they sought to flee. Military personnel kept guard.

Broader Background

The border between Western Germany and the East Germany extended 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is remembered and honored the most, but more than twice as many individuals (more than 300) died trying to cross it in rural areas than in the metropolis. the director informs me that 95% of escape attempts failed.

Community Life

Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or artisans, who adapted to residing in the uncertain territory between a pair of ideological spheres by avoiding attention and tending to their land. They nor did they backed the socialist government nor resisted it, Lebegern states.

Interest

For tourists, however, the village became a sort of destination. About fifteen thousand visited each year, binoculars in hand, to stare – and then rapidly go away. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after reunification, the TV show, a television program about a fictional community similar to Mödlareuth, led to fresh attention.

Modern Developments

The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, shop, movie theater and big parking lot – is probable to