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A creek so shallow you barely got your ankles wet divided a settlement for in excess of four decades worth of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement surrounded by evergreen groves, pastures and spectacular views, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War tensions. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Eastern part, a boundary that was established first by a enclosure and then by a barricade. American soldiers called it Little Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

Months after their own barrier was opened, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a collection of local people began documenting their heritage. The effort is soon to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was officially launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display was not entirely prepared. Speaking to the residents who endured the former times, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an cruel separation, which ripped families into pieces and turned neighbors into aliens.”

“You were witnesses of an cruel separation, which ripped households apart and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Historical Background

Right from its creation in 1810, the community cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a princely house best known for giving all its male descendants the designation Heinrich and numbering them sequentially by birth order. As Steinmeier informed the audience, the oddity did not stand in the path of the residents socializing in the very same tavern, going to the identical church and sending their children to the identical school.

After the War Division

Then came the global conflict. Immediately after they arrived, the Russians installed wooden posts by the stream. For a year they took over the whole village, creating their control center in a dwelling on the western side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces persuaded them to withdraw back over the creek. For a period, residents could still cross over, though as restrictions increased they were required to present ID, even though everyone was aware who they were, and to go back at night.

Escalation of Border Controls

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal closing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was erected, with landmines, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The locals could continue to see each other by scaling hills, but on the eastern side waving and yelling were banned. One woman was added to a East German secret police monitoring list for replying “back at you” to a West German local who said her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

It was related to me stories such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated a large part of his occupational time developing it. Villagers were consulted early on about how how long a section barrier they wished to maintain. They opted for a stretch on the western fringe, near where one of their own managed to escape in the dead of night with a climbing device, after which the border was substantially reinforced.

Maintained Installations

2 guard towers are conserved in addition to a collection of exhibits illustrating the most significant events in the village’s past. As we walk, Lebergen lists the regulations: no one could get closer than 5km of the border. Rural residents had to obtain specific authorization to look after their produce; the spouse could use the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances the two, for fear that they tried to flee. Armed guards kept guard.

Wider Background

The frontier between Western Germany and the GDR stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the north to this location in the south. Berlin is recalled and honored the most, but in excess of two times more persons (well over 300) died attempting to traverse it in rural areas than in the metropolis. the director tells me that 95% of escape attempts did not succeed.

Community Life

Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or skilled workers, who adjusted to residing in the uncertain territory between a pair of ideological spheres by avoiding attention and looking after their fields. They did not endorsed the socialist government nor resisted it, the director explains.

Tourism

For tourists, however, the village became a kind of site of interest. Approximately 15,000 came to visit each year, binoculars in their hands, to gawp – and then quickly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the national security head.

Twenty five years after unification, the TV show, a broadcast production about a made-up community like Mödlareuth, led to renewed interest.

Present-Day Changes

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, store, movie theater and big vehicle area – is likely to