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A creek so low you hardly got your ankles wet split a village for more than four decades. Due to a quirk of landscape, the fifty locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by pine forests, pastures and stunning scenery, found themselves at the core of the Cold War tensions. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a partition. American soldiers nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Memorialising the Past

Months after their own wall was breached, and before their country had unified again in 1990, a collection of residents started memorialising their history. The project is about to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th annual remembrance of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly inaugurated by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the exhibition was not completely ready. Speaking to the locals who endured the old days, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an inhuman division, which pulled households apart and turned local residents into aliens.”

“You were observers of an cruel division, which tore relatives into pieces and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

Historical Background

Starting at its creation in 1810, the village spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a princely house most famous for giving all its male members the title Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the crowd, the quirk never stood in the way of the inhabitants gathering in the identical tavern, visiting the identical place of worship and sending their young ones to the identical school.

Following WWII Division

Subsequently occurred the second world war. As soon as they came, the Russian troops put up timber poles by the brook. For a twelve months they took over the complete hamlet, creating their headquarters in a building on the Bavarian territory side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The Americans urged them to retreat across the stream. For a time, locals could continue to hop over, though as restrictions increased they were forced to present identity papers, although each person was aware who they were, and to come back at evening.

Intensification of Border Measures

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the official sealing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was constructed, with landmines, vehicle barriers and observation points. The residents could continue to see each other by scaling slopes, but on the east side gesturing and shouting were forbidden. A local woman was placed on a Stasi watch list for responding “likewise” to a Bavarian resident who greeted her “good new year”.

Museum Creation

I was told stories including these by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent a significant portion of his working life developing it. Villagers were asked at an early stage about how what length of wall they wanted to preserve. They chose a section on the Bavarian edge, close to where a local resident was able to escape in the dead of night with a climbing device, subsequently the border was significantly strengthened.

Maintained Structures

2 watchtowers are maintained alongside a series of exhibits depicting the most significant moments in the hamlet’s history. As we walk, the director details the restrictions: no one could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers required specific authorization to tend to their crops; the spouse could operate the agricultural equipment but never both, for fear that they attempted to flee. Soldiers kept guard.

Wider Background

The frontier between West Germany and the GDR ran 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to here in the south. Berlin is remembered and honored the most frequently, but more than twice as many individuals (well over 300) lost their lives trying to pass over it in provincial zones than in the big city. the director tells me that almost all of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Community Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or artisans, who adjusted to residing in the uncertain territory between two political systems by staying low-profile and tending to their farms. They nor did they backed the East German authorities nor resisted it, Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For visitors, however, the hamlet became a kind of site of interest. Approximately 15,000 came to see every year, optical devices in their hands, to gawp – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after merger, Tannbach, a broadcast production about a made-up community resembling Mödlareuth, caused fresh interest.

Present-Day Changes

The inauguration of the new museum – with a cafe, shop, movie theater and sizable parking lot – is likely to