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A stream so shallow you hardly got your ankles wet divided a settlement for over four decades worth of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by evergreen groves, meadows and spectacular views, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span Bavaria, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a boundary that was established first by a barrier and then by a wall. United States military personnel dubbed it Little Berlin.

Commemorating the Past

Several months after their own wall was torn down, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a group of villagers began memorialising their heritage. The effort is about to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the demolition of the Wall in Berlin, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was officially inaugurated by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the exhibition was not entirely finished. Addressing the locals who endured the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an brutal separation, which pulled households asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were observers of an inhuman division, which ripped families apart and turned neighbors into strangers.”

Past Background

Right from its establishment in 1810, the hamlet cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family most renowned for giving all its men the name Heinrich and counting them in order by birth. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the oddity never stood in the way of the inhabitants socializing in the identical inn, visiting the very same religious building and sending their kids to the identical educational institution.

Following WWII Division

Then came the second world war. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces erected timber poles by the stream. For a twelve months they took over the whole community, creating their command in a house on the Bavarian side, decorating it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces persuaded them to pull back across the brook. For a period, villagers could continue to cross over, though as limitations increased they were forced to display identity papers, despite the fact that all knew who they were, and to go back at evening.

Increase of Boundary Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came wire fencing and the legal closing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a concrete structure was constructed, with landmines, vehicle barriers and observation points. The villagers could still see each other by ascending hills, but on the Soviet side waving and calling out were banned. One woman was added to a East German secret police watch list for responding “likewise” to a Bavarian villager who said her “happy new year”.

Museum Development

I heard stories such as these by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has devoted much of his occupational time building it. Villagers were consulted early on about how much barrier they wished to keep. They opted for a portion on the west perimeter, adjacent to where a villager was able to get away in the darkest hours with a scaling tool, following which the frontier was substantially fortified.

Preserved Structures

Two watchtowers are maintained together with a set of displays illustrating the most dramatic dates in the hamlet’s history. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the regulations: nobody could come within 5km of the border. Agricultural workers needed particular approval to tend to their fields; the partner could use the combine harvester but not the two, for fear that they attempted to make a run for it. Armed guards were on duty.

Wider Perspective

The border between West Germany and the GDR stretched 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most frequently, but more than twice as many persons (well over 300) lost their lives attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the urban center. Robert Lebegern tells me that almost all of escape attempts failed.

Village Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were rural laborers or skilled workers, who adjusted to dwelling in the ambiguous area between a pair of belief systems by staying low-profile and caring for their farms. They did not backed the socialist government nor opposed it, Lebegern clarifies.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a type of pilgrimage. About 15k came to see each year, optical devices in possession, to look – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defense official.

25 years after merger, Tannbach, a TV series about a imaginary community like Mödlareuth, led to new attention.

Present-Day Developments

The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, store, cinema room and sizable parking lot – is probable to