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An stream so low you hardly got your feet wet divided a settlement for more than four decades worth of time. Due to a quirk of geography, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by evergreen groves, pastures and spectacular views, found themselves at the center of the cold war. They had the misfortune to straddle the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the Eastern part, a boundary that was marked first by a barrier and then by a wall. United States military personnel dubbed it Small Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

Months after their own wall was torn down, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a collection of residents began documenting their history. The work is soon to come to fruition: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the display was not completely ready. Addressing the locals who lived through the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which ripped households asunder and turned neighbors into strangers.”

“You were observers of an inhuman separation, which pulled relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Bygone Context

Right from its founding in 1810, the village cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a princely house most famous for bestowing all its men the designation Heinrich and numbering them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier told the crowd, the quirk did not stand in the manner of the inhabitants drinking in the very same pub, going to the identical religious building and placing their kids to the identical educational institution.

After the War Division

Next arrived the second world war. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces installed timber poles by the stream. For a twelve months they took over the complete hamlet, establishing their control center in a house on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The Americans convinced them to retreat to the other side of the brook. For a while, residents could continue to cross over, though as controls became stricter they were obliged to show identity papers, although everyone knew who they were, and to come back at night.

Escalation of Boundary Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came wire fencing and the legal closing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was erected, with explosives, anti-tank obstacles and watchtowers. The residents could continue to see each other by scaling elevations, but on the east side waving and yelling were banned. A local woman was put on a East German secret police watch list for answering “likewise” to a western local who said her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

I was told accounts including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated much of his occupational time creating it. Residents were consulted at an early stage about how what length of barrier they desired to keep. They opted for a stretch on the Bavarian perimeter, close to where a villager managed to flee in the dead of night with a climbing device, subsequently the frontier was significantly fortified.

Maintained Installations

Two guard towers are maintained together with a collection of exhibits showing the most dramatic dates in the village’s chronicle. As we walk, the director details the rules: nobody could get closer than 5km of the border. Agricultural workers required specific authorization to look after their produce; the partner could operate the combine harvester but not the pair, lest they attempted to flee. Armed guards kept guard.

Larger Perspective

The border between the Federal Republic and the East Germany stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and honored the most frequently, but over double the number people (well over 300) died seeking to pass over it in rural areas than in the big city. the director reminds me that almost all of escape attempts failed.

Village Existence

Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were rural laborers or craftsmen, who adjusted to dwelling in the uncertain territory between a pair of ideological spheres by staying low-profile and tending to their land. They did not supported the East German authorities nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For tourists, however, the hamlet became a sort of pilgrimage. About 15,000 visited annually, viewing tools in hand, to stare – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after unification, the TV show, a broadcast production about a made-up community similar to Mödlareuth, led to renewed attention.

Present-Day Evolutions

The launch of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, boutique, cinema room and sizable car park – is expected to