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An stream so narrow you barely got your feet wet divided a community for more than four decades of time. Due to a quirk of landscape, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement surrounded by evergreen groves, fields and breathtaking vistas, found themselves at the heart of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross Bavaria, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a boundary that was established first by a fence and then by a wall. US troops dubbed it Little Berlin.

Commemorating History

Months after their own barrier was torn down, and even before their nation had become one in 1990, a group of residents began documenting their heritage. The project is close to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th anniversary of the demolition of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was formally inaugurated by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely ready. Addressing the locals who lived through the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an cruel separation, which ripped households into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

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

Historical Background

Right from its establishment in 1810, the community cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a princely house most famous for giving all its male descendants the title Heinrich and labeling them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier told the gathering, the oddity was never an obstacle in the path of the residents socializing in the identical inn, visiting the identical place of worship and sending their children to the very same learning center.

Following WWII Division

Subsequently occurred the World War II. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces erected timber poles by the creek. For a twelve months they took over the entire hamlet, creating their control center in a dwelling on the western side, adorning it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces convinced them to withdraw back over the creek. For a while, villagers could still hop over, though as restrictions became stricter they were forced to display identity papers, even though each person was aware who they were, and to go back at after dark.

Escalation of Boundary Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official sealing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was built, with mines, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The locals could continue to view each other by climbing elevations, but on the Soviet side waving and calling out were banned. A female resident was added to a East German secret police surveillance list for responding “same to you” to a western resident who said her “good new year”.

Museum Development

I heard narratives like these by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has devoted a large part of his professional career creating it. Residents were polled early on about how much wall they wished to preserve. They opted for a section on the Bavarian perimeter, near where one of their own was able to get away in the middle of the night with a ladder, following which the boundary was substantially fortified.

Conserved Buildings

Two observation towers are maintained alongside a set of tableaux illustrating the most significant moments in the community’s past. As we move, the director lists the restrictions: nobody could come within 5km of the frontier. Rural residents had to obtain special permission to look after their crops; the spouse could operate the harvesting machine but never the two, in case they attempted to flee. Soldiers kept guard.

Larger Background

The border between West Germany and the East Germany extended 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the north to this location in the south. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the greatest, but in excess of double the number individuals (more than 300) died trying to pass over it in countryside regions than in the big city. Robert Lebegern informs me that almost all of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Hamlet Life

The majority of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or craftsmen, who adjusted to living in the uncertain territory between two ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and tending to their farms. They neither supported the East German authorities nor opposed it, Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a kind of pilgrimage. Approximately 15,000 came to see annually, viewing tools in hand, to look – and then rapidly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after merger, the TV show, a broadcast production about a fictional village like Mödlareuth, led to renewed curiosity.

Current Changes

The launch of the recently established museum – with a cafe, shop, film screening area and sizable car park – is expected to