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A brook so low you scarcely got your ankles wet separated a village for more than four decades. Due to a quirk of landscape, the half a hundred locals of Mödlareuth, a small village surrounded by coniferous woods, fields and spectacular vistas, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to cross Bavaria, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a frontier that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a wall. US troops called it Mini Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Several months after their own division was breached, and even before their nation had become one in 1990, a group of local people set about documenting their past. The effort is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th anniversary of the fall of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was officially launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely ready. Speaking to the residents who lived through the former times, Steinmeier said: “You were bystanders of an cruel separation, which tore households apart and turned neighbours into aliens.”

“You were observers of an brutal split, which ripped families asunder and turned neighbors into strangers.”

Past Origins

Right from its founding in 1810, the hamlet cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a royal family most famous for bestowing all its male members the designation Heinrich and numbering them sequentially by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the quirk did not stand in the path of the residents drinking in the same pub, visiting the identical religious building and enrolling their kids to the very same educational institution.

Post-War Separation

Then came the second world war. As soon as they came, the Russians installed wood stakes by the creek. For a twelve months they occupied the whole village, establishing their command in a dwelling on the western side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a communist symbol. The American soldiers convinced them to pull back to the other side of the brook. For a while, villagers could still jump across, though as restrictions increased they were obliged to present identification, despite the fact that everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at after dark.

Increase of Boundary Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came wire fencing and the official sealing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a wall was constructed, with landmines, anti-tank obstacles and observation points. The villagers could still see each other by climbing hills, but on the Soviet side waving and calling out were forbidden. A female resident was added to a Stasi watch list for responding “likewise” to a western resident who wished her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

I was told narratives like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has devoted a significant portion of his occupational time creating it. Locals were consulted in the initial phases about how how long a section wall they wanted to keep. They selected a portion on the Bavarian fringe, near where one of their own managed to get away in the middle of the night with a climbing device, subsequently the frontier was substantially fortified.

Preserved Buildings

2 watchtowers are preserved alongside a collection of exhibits depicting the most impactful moments in the hamlet’s chronicle. As we move, Robert Lebegern lists the restrictions: not a single person could get closer than 5km of the border. Rural residents had to obtain specific authorization to care for their produce; the spouse could use the agricultural equipment but not both, for fear that they sought to make a run for it. Military personnel kept guard.

Broader Perspective

The border between Western Germany and the German Democratic Republic stretched 1,400km, from the northern sea in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and documented the most frequently, but over double the number individuals (exceeding 300) died seeking to traverse it in countryside regions than in the big city. Robert Lebegern tells me that almost all of attempts to flee failed.

Village Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or artisans, who adapted to living in the uncertain territory between 2 belief systems by avoiding attention and looking after their farms. They neither endorsed the socialist government nor fought it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Visitors

For visitors, however, the settlement became a type of destination. Roughly 15,000 visited annually, viewing tools in hand, to look – and then quickly depart. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was guided by the national security head.

25 years after reunification, Tannbach, a broadcast production about a imaginary village like Mödlareuth, resulted in new curiosity.

Present-Day Developments

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, boutique, movie theater and large vehicle area – is likely to