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An brook so low you hardly got your feet wet divided a community for over four decades worth of time. By an accident of landscape, the half a hundred locals of Mödlareuth, a small village bordered by evergreen groves, fields and stunning scenery, found themselves at the center of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was established first by a barrier and then by a barricade. US troops dubbed it Little Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Months after their own wall was breached, and before their nation had reunified in 1990, a assembly of local people set about documenting their past. The work is about to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th remembrance of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not entirely prepared. Telling the residents who experienced the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an cruel split, which pulled families apart and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were observers of an inhuman split, which tore families apart and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Past Background

Starting at its founding in 1810, the hamlet spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Principality of Reuss, a princely house most famous for bestowing all its male descendants the name Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the quirk was never an obstacle in the manner of the inhabitants socializing in the identical tavern, visiting the same place of worship and placing their children to the identical school.

Following WWII Separation

Then came the World War II. Immediately after they appeared, the Soviet forces put up wooden posts by the stream. For a year they seized the entire community, creating their control center in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a image of Stalin and a red star. The US forces convinced them to pull back to the other side of the stream. For a time, villagers could still cross over, though as restrictions became stricter they were obliged to present identification, even though everyone was aware who they were, and to go back at after dark.

Escalation of Border Restrictions

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the legal closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was erected, with landmines, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The locals could still see each other by scaling elevations, but on the east side signaling and shouting were forbidden. A local woman was placed on a Stasi monitoring list for replying “likewise” to a western villager who wished her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

I was told narratives like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has devoted much of his occupational time building it. Residents were consulted in the initial phases about how how long a section barrier they wanted to preserve. They selected a section on the Bavarian edge, close to where one of their own was able to flee in the darkest hours with a scaling tool, after which the frontier was significantly reinforced.

Conserved Buildings

2 observation towers are maintained in addition to a collection of tableaux showing the most significant moments in the village’s chronicle. As we walk, the director details the restrictions: nobody could come within 5km of the boundary. Rural residents required particular approval to tend to their fields; the partner could operate the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances the two, in case they sought to flee. Armed guards stood watch.

Wider Perspective

The border between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the north to this location in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the greatest, but more than twice as many individuals (exceeding 300) were killed attempting to cross it in provincial zones than in the urban center. Lebegern informs me that 95% of attempts to flee were unsuccessful.

Community Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or artisans, who accommodated to dwelling in the uncertain territory between a pair of belief systems by avoiding attention and tending to their fields. They nor did they backed the socialist government nor resisted it, the director clarifies.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the hamlet became a kind of site of interest. Roughly 15,000 visited each year, optical devices in their hands, to look – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

25 years after merger, Tannbach, a television program about a fictional community similar to Mödlareuth, caused renewed interest.

Modern Changes

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a coffee shop, store, cinema room and big car park – is expected to