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A brook so shallow you scarcely got your ankles wet divided a community for in excess of four decades worth of time. By an accident of landscape, the half a hundred inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by evergreen groves, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to span the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and Thuringia in the Eastern part, a border that was established first by a fence and then by a barricade. American soldiers dubbed it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating the Past

A few months after their own wall was breached, and before their country had become one in 1990, a assembly of local people started commemorating their history. The effort is about to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th anniversary of the demolition of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was publicly inaugurated by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the exhibition was not entirely prepared. Addressing the residents who lived through the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an cruel split, which pulled families asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were observers of an cruel division, which tore families apart and turned local residents into aliens.”

Bygone Origins

Right from its creation in 1810, the village spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a royal family most renowned for bestowing all its male descendants the designation Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the quirk was never an obstacle in the way of the inhabitants gathering in the same inn, going to the identical place of worship and placing their children to the very same educational institution.

Post-War Split

Then came the World War II. Immediately after they arrived, the Russians installed wooden posts by the brook. For a twelve months they took over the complete community, setting up their headquarters in a building on the Bavarian territory side, decorating it with a image of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The US forces persuaded them to retreat across the creek. For a while, residents could continue to hop over, though as controls increased they were obliged to display ID, although everyone was aware who they were, and to go back at night.

Escalation of Boundary Measures

Subsequently, in 1952, came wire fencing and the formal sealing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a concrete structure was constructed, with mines, vehicle barriers and observation points. The locals could still see each other by climbing slopes, but on the Soviet side gesturing and yelling were prohibited. A local woman was added to a East German secret police watch list for replying “back at you” to a western local who wished her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

I heard narratives like these by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated a large part of his professional career creating it. Villagers were consulted early on about how how long a section barrier they desired to preserve. They opted for a section on the Bavarian perimeter, close to where a local resident succeeded to get away in the middle of the night with a ladder, following which the frontier was substantially strengthened.

Preserved Structures

Two guard towers are preserved together with a collection of exhibits showing the most dramatic events in the hamlet’s chronicle. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern lists the rules: no one could approach 5km of the border. Agricultural workers needed special permission to care for their fields; the spouse could work the agricultural equipment but never the pair, lest they sought to make a run for it. Military personnel kept guard.

Broader Context

The frontier between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic extended 1,400km, from the Baltic coast in the north to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most, but more than twice as many persons (exceeding 300) lost their lives attempting to traverse it in rural areas than in the big city. Robert Lebegern tells me that 95% of escape attempts failed.

Village Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or artisans, who adjusted to residing in the ambiguous area between 2 political systems by staying low-profile and tending to their farms. They nor did they endorsed the socialist government nor resisted it, the director states.

Interest

For sightseers, however, the hamlet became a sort of destination. Roughly 15,000 came to see every year, viewing tools in possession, to gawp – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the national security head.

Twenty five years after merger, the TV show, a broadcast production about a fictional hamlet similar to Mödlareuth, resulted in new curiosity.

Modern Developments

The launch of the recently established museum – with a coffee shop, shop, cinema room and large vehicle area – is probable to