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An creek so narrow you barely got your feet wet separated a settlement for more than four decades of time. Because of a chance of topography, the half a hundred inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by evergreen groves, fields and spectacular views, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to cross Bavaria, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a border that was established first by a fence and then by a partition. US troops dubbed it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating History

Months after their own wall was torn down, and prior to their country had become one in 1990, a group of local people began commemorating their history. The effort is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth commemoration of the demolition of the Wall in Berlin, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was formally launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the show was not completely ready. Addressing the villagers who lived through the past era, Steinmeier said: “You were witnesses of an inhuman division, which ripped households asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were observers of an brutal division, which tore households into pieces and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Past Context

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the village spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a princely house most famous for assigning all its male members the name Heinrich and counting them consecutively by birth order. As Steinmeier told the gathering, the oddity never stood in the way of the locals drinking in the very same inn, going to the identical religious building and placing their children to the very same school.

Following WWII Division

Next arrived the World War II. Immediately after they appeared, the Russians erected wooden posts by the creek. For a twelve months they took over the whole community, establishing their command in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a image of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The American soldiers persuaded them to pull back back over the brook. For a while, villagers could still jump across, though as controls became stricter they were obliged to display identity papers, although each person was aware who they were, and to return at evening.

Intensification of Frontier 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 barrier was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The residents could continue to observe each other by scaling hills, but on the east side waving and shouting were forbidden. One woman was put on a GDR intelligence watch list for responding “likewise” to a West German local who greeted her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Development

I heard narratives including these by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has devoted much of his occupational time creating it. Villagers were consulted in the initial phases about how how long a section barrier they wanted to maintain. They chose a section on the west perimeter, adjacent to where a local resident was able to escape in the darkest hours with a ladder, after which the border was significantly strengthened.

Preserved Structures

2 watchtowers are maintained alongside a collection of displays depicting the most impactful events in the community’s history. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the rules: nobody could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers had to obtain particular approval to look after their fields; the husband or wife could work the combine harvester but never the two, lest they tried to make a run for it. Soldiers stood watch.

Larger Context

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic extended 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the northern part to here in the south. Berlin is remembered and memorialised the most frequently, but more than twice as many individuals (more than 300) died attempting to pass over it in countryside regions than in the big city. the director informs me that 95% of escape attempts were unsuccessful.

Village Existence

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or skilled workers, who adapted to residing in the ambiguous area between 2 ideological spheres by staying low-profile and caring for their fields. They neither backed the communist regime nor opposed it, the director clarifies.

Visitors

For visitors, however, the village became a sort of pilgrimage. About 15,000 visited each year, viewing tools in hand, to stare – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was guided by the national security head.

Twenty-five years after merger, the television series, a broadcast production about a imaginary village like Mödlareuth, led to fresh interest.

Current Evolutions

The opening of the recently established museum – with a coffee shop, shop, film screening area and large car park – is probable to