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A stream so shallow you barely got your feet wet split a settlement for over four decades. Due to a quirk of geography, the fifty locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by coniferous woods, meadows and breathtaking vistas, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to straddle Bavaria, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a frontier that was marked first by a enclosure and then by a barricade. US troops nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Commemorating History

Months after their own division was torn down, and even before their country had reunified in 1990, a group of villagers set about documenting their heritage. The work is soon to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was publicly inaugurated by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the display was not completely finished. Speaking to the villagers who endured the past era, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an cruel division, which pulled households asunder and turned neighbors into aliens.”

“You were witnesses of an inhuman split, which pulled relatives apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”

Historical Origins

Even at its founding in 1810, the community cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a noble lineage most famous for giving all its male descendants the title Heinrich and numbering them sequentially by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the peculiarity was never an obstacle in the manner of the inhabitants socializing in the identical inn, visiting the identical church and enrolling their young ones to the very same educational institution.

Following WWII Split

Then came the World War II. As soon as they arrived, the Soviet forces installed wooden posts by the creek. For a twelve months they occupied the entire village, establishing their command in a building on the Bavarian side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The US forces persuaded them to retreat across the creek. For a time, residents could continue to cross over, though as limitations became stricter they were obliged to present identity papers, despite the fact that everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at night.

Intensification of Boundary Measures

After that, in 1952, came wire fencing and the formal shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was built, with landmines, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The residents could continue to view each other by ascending elevations, but on the Soviet side signaling and yelling were prohibited. A local woman was put on a Stasi watch list for responding “likewise” to a western local who wished her “good new year”.

Museum Development

It was related to me accounts such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has devoted a significant portion of his working life building it. Locals were consulted early on about how how long a section structure they desired to maintain. They selected a stretch on the western edge, near where one of their own was able to flee in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, following which the frontier was substantially strengthened.

Maintained Buildings

2 observation towers are maintained in addition to a set of exhibits showing the most dramatic dates in the community’s past. As we stroll, Lebergen details the rules: not a single person could come within 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers required special permission to care for their crops; the spouse could operate the combine harvester but under no circumstances the pair, for fear that they attempted to make a run for it. Armed guards stood watch.

Wider Background

The boundary between West Germany and the GDR extended nearly 900 miles, from the northern sea in the northern part to the south in the south. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most, but in excess of twice as many individuals (exceeding 300) died trying to pass over it in rural areas than in the metropolis. Lebegern reminds me that 95 percent of efforts to cross failed.

Hamlet Life

The majority of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or artisans, who adapted to residing in the grey zone between 2 ideological spheres by avoiding attention and looking after their fields. They nor did they endorsed the East German authorities nor fought it, Robert Lebegern explains.

Tourism

For tourists, however, the hamlet became a sort of site of interest. About 15,000 came to see annually, viewing tools in possession, to stare – and then swiftly go away. 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 TV series about a fictional community like Mödlareuth, caused renewed interest.

Current Developments

The launch of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, store, film screening area and sizable vehicle area – is expected to