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A creek so shallow you scarcely got your feet wet separated a village for more than four decades. Due to a quirk of topography, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by pine forests, fields and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was established first by a barrier and then by a barricade. United States military personnel dubbed it Small Berlin.

Memorialising Historical Events

A few months after their own wall was opened, and before their nation had reunified in 1990, a collection of residents set about documenting their heritage. The work is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the collapse of the Wall in Berlin, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the display wasn’t quite ready. Telling the residents who lived through the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were witnesses of an inhuman separation, which ripped households apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”

“You were observers of an brutal division, which ripped families asunder and turned local residents into strangers.”

Past Context

Starting at its creation in 1810, the hamlet spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a royal family most renowned for giving all its men the designation Heinrich and numbering them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier informed the audience, the peculiarity did not stand in the way of the residents gathering in the same inn, attending the same church and sending their children to the same school.

Following WWII Separation

Next arrived the global conflict. As soon as they appeared, the Russian troops put up timber poles by the brook. For a annual period they occupied the entire village, establishing their control center in a dwelling on the western side, decorating it with a picture of Stalin and a communist symbol. The Americans urged them to pull back across the brook. For a time, locals could continue to jump across, though as controls tightened they were obliged to show identity papers, although everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at after dark.

Intensification of Boundary Controls

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the legal shutting of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was constructed, with landmines, tank traps and guard posts. The locals could still view each other by climbing hills, but on the east side gesturing and shouting were forbidden. One woman was placed on a East German secret police monitoring list for responding “back at you” to a West German resident who said her “good new year”.

Museum Establishment

I was told accounts like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent much of his working life creating it. Locals were asked early on about how what length of barrier they desired to keep. They opted for a stretch on the Bavarian fringe, close to where one of their own was able to get away in the darkest hours with a ladder, after which the frontier was significantly strengthened.

Maintained Installations

Two watchtowers are preserved together with a series of displays showing the most dramatic dates in the hamlet’s history. As we stroll, the director details the restrictions: not a single person could come within 5km of the border. Farmers needed specific authorization to tend to their produce; the partner could work the combine harvester but never both, in case they sought to make a run for it. Armed guards were on duty.

Larger Background

The border between Western Germany and the GDR ran 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to the south in the south. Berlin is remembered and documented the most, but in excess of twice as many people (more than 300) lost their lives seeking to pass over it in rural areas than in the big city. Lebegern informs me that 95 percent of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Community Life

Most of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or craftsmen, who adapted to living in the uncertain territory between a pair of political systems by keeping their heads down and looking after their land. They did not backed the socialist government nor resisted it, the director states.

Interest

For tourists, however, the village became a type of destination. Approximately 15k visited annually, optical devices in their hands, to look – and then rapidly depart. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was guided by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after unification, the TV show, a TV series about a imaginary community similar to Mödlareuth, led to new attention.

Modern Changes

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a restaurant, shop, movie theater and large vehicle area – is probable to