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A brook so low you scarcely got your feet wet split a settlement for more than four decades of time. Because of a chance of landscape, the fifty locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet surrounded by pine forests, pastures and stunning scenery, found themselves at the center of the cold war. They had the misfortune to span Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was established first by a fence and then by a barricade. American soldiers dubbed it Small Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

Months after their own barrier was torn down, and before their country had unified again in 1990, a collection of residents began documenting their history. The project is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th remembrance of the fall of the Wall in Berlin, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display was not completely prepared. Speaking to the villagers who lived through the past era, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an inhuman division, which ripped households into pieces and turned local residents into aliens.”

“You were bystanders of an brutal division, which tore families apart and turned neighbors into aliens.”

Historical Origins

Starting at its founding in 1810, the community cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage best known for giving all its men the name Heinrich and labeling them consecutively by birth order. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the peculiarity was never an obstacle in the way of the inhabitants gathering in the identical pub, visiting the same place of worship and sending their children to the same school.

After the War Separation

Subsequently occurred the global conflict. As soon as they came, the Russians erected timber poles by the stream. For a annual period they occupied the entire community, setting up their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers persuaded them to pull back back over the stream. For a time, villagers could still hop over, though as limitations tightened they were obliged to display ID, although everyone was aware who they were, and to return at evening.

Intensification of Frontier Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal shutting of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a wall was erected, with landmines, anti-tank obstacles and watchtowers. The locals could still see each other by ascending slopes, but on the east side signaling and shouting were prohibited. A local woman was placed on a GDR intelligence surveillance list for replying “same to you” to a West German local who said her “happy new year”.

Museum Development

I heard accounts including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated a significant portion of his professional career creating it. Villagers were asked in the initial phases about how much structure they desired to preserve. They selected a stretch on the Bavarian edge, close to where a villager managed to get away in the middle of the night with a ladder, subsequently the boundary was significantly strengthened.

Maintained Structures

2 guard towers are preserved alongside a series of displays showing the most significant events in the village’s chronicle. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern lists the regulations: nobody could come within 5km of the boundary. Rural residents required particular approval to look after their fields; the husband or wife could use the harvesting machine but under no circumstances the pair, in case they sought to escape. Military personnel stood watch.

Broader Context

The frontier between the Federal Republic and the East Germany ran nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to this location in the south. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the most frequently, but in excess of twice as many persons (more than 300) were killed seeking to pass over it in provincial zones than in the urban center. Lebegern tells me that 95% of attempts to flee failed.

Community Existence

Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or craftsmen, who adjusted to residing in the grey zone between two ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and caring for their farms. They neither backed the socialist government nor opposed it, Lebegern clarifies.

Visitors

For tourists, however, the settlement became a sort of pilgrimage. Approximately fifteen thousand came to see each year, optical devices in possession, to gawp – and then swiftly go away. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

25 years after reunification, Tannbach, a television program about a imaginary hamlet like Mödlareuth, caused new curiosity.

Modern Developments

The launch of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, shop, cinema room and large vehicle area – is likely to