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A stream so low you scarcely got your ankles wet divided a community for in excess of four decades of time. Because of a chance of geography, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by coniferous woods, fields and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the misfortune to span the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a border that was established first by a fence and then by a partition. US troops nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Commemorating Historical Events

Months after their own barrier was opened, and even before their state had reunified in 1990, a group of villagers began memorialising their heritage. The work is about to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth remembrance of the demolition of the German barrier, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly opened by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the show was not entirely prepared. Speaking to the locals who endured the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were witnesses of an cruel division, which pulled relatives apart and turned local residents into aliens.”

“You were bystanders of an brutal split, which pulled households asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Past Context

Even at its founding in 1810, the community cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family most renowned for bestowing all its male descendants the title Heinrich and counting them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier told the crowd, the quirk did not stand in the manner of the inhabitants gathering in the very same inn, visiting the identical church and sending their kids to the identical school.

Post-War Division

Then came the global conflict. As soon as they appeared, the Russian troops erected wooden posts by the brook. For a twelve months they took over the entire hamlet, establishing their control center in a house on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a communist symbol. The American soldiers convinced them to pull back back over the creek. For a time, villagers could still jump across, though as limitations increased they were required to present ID, despite the fact that all knew who they were, and to come back at night.

Intensification of Boundary Controls

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the legal sealing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was built, with mines, tank traps and watchtowers. The villagers could still see each other by climbing elevations, but on the eastern side gesturing and yelling were forbidden. A female resident was added to a East German secret police surveillance list for responding “likewise” to a West German local who greeted her “prosperous new year”.

Museum Establishment

I was told stories like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent a significant portion of his occupational time developing it. Locals were consulted early on about how much structure they desired to maintain. They chose a portion on the Bavarian edge, near where one of their own succeeded to flee in the darkest hours with a ladder, subsequently the frontier was significantly reinforced.

Preserved Structures

A pair of watchtowers are conserved together with a set of tableaux depicting the most dramatic moments in the community’s chronicle. As we walk, Lebergen details the restrictions: no one could approach 5km of the frontier. Agricultural workers had to obtain specific authorization to look after their fields; the husband or wife could use the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances both, in case they attempted to make a run for it. Armed guards kept guard.

Wider Background

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic stretched 1,400km, from the northern sea in the north to this location in the south. Berlin is remembered and honored the most, but more than double the number individuals (well over 300) were killed attempting to traverse it in rural areas than in the big city. Robert Lebegern reminds me that 95% of efforts to cross were unsuccessful.

Village Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or craftsmen, who adapted to residing in the uncertain territory between 2 belief systems by avoiding attention and caring for their farms. They neither backed the communist regime nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern states.

Visitors

For tourists, however, the hamlet became a type of site of interest. Roughly 15k came to see every year, optical devices in possession, to look – and then quickly leave. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after reunification, the TV show, a TV series about a fictional community similar to Mödlareuth, led to new attention.

Present-Day Changes

The launch of the new museum – with a cafe, store, cinema room and large parking lot – is likely to