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An brook so shallow you scarcely got your feet wet divided a settlement for over four decades of time. Because of a chance of landscape, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet surrounded by pine forests, fields and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a border that was established first by a fence and then by a wall. American soldiers dubbed it Little Berlin.

Commemorating the Past

Several months after their own wall was torn down, and prior to their country had unified again in 1990, a group of local people started commemorating their heritage. The project is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th remembrance of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was formally inaugurated by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not completely prepared. Addressing the villagers who experienced the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were witnesses of an brutal separation, which tore families into pieces and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

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

Bygone Origins

Right from its establishment in 1810, the community spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Principality of Reuss, a noble lineage best known for bestowing all its male descendants the designation Heinrich and labeling them in order by birth. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the peculiarity did not stand in the way of the locals socializing in the very same inn, attending the same place of worship and sending their kids to the same educational institution.

Post-War Division

Then came the global conflict. The moment they arrived, the Russians erected wooden posts by the brook. For a year they seized the complete hamlet, setting up their control center in a building on the Bavarian territory side, decorating it with a image of Stalin and a red star. The US forces persuaded them to retreat to the other side of the creek. For a while, villagers could continue to cross over, though as controls became stricter they were obliged to show identification, although each person was aware who they were, and to return at night.

Intensification of Boundary Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the official closing of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was built, with landmines, tank traps and watchtowers. The villagers could continue to view each other by ascending elevations, but on the east side waving and yelling were banned. A female resident was put on a GDR intelligence surveillance list for replying “likewise” to a West German resident who said her “happy new year”.

Museum Creation

I heard narratives such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has devoted a large part of his occupational time creating it. Villagers were asked early on about how much structure they wanted to maintain. They opted for a stretch on the west edge, near where a villager was able to get away in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, after which the border was substantially reinforced.

Conserved Buildings

A pair of observation towers are maintained together with a collection of exhibits depicting the most significant moments in the hamlet’s past. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern enumerates the restrictions: nobody could get closer than 5km of the frontier. Agricultural workers had to obtain specific authorization to look after their crops; the spouse could work the agricultural equipment but never the two, in case they sought to flee. Military personnel were on duty.

Broader Background

The border between Western Germany and the East Germany extended nearly 900 miles, from the northern sea in the northern part to this location in the south. Berlin is commemorated and honored the greatest, but over two times more people (exceeding 300) lost their lives attempting to cross it in provincial zones than in the metropolis. Lebegern informs me that 95% of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Community Life

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s residents were rural laborers or artisans, who adjusted to living in the uncertain territory between two political systems by staying low-profile and tending to their land. They nor did they endorsed the communist regime nor opposed it, the director states.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the village became a type of destination. Approximately 15k came to visit each year, viewing tools in their hands, to gawp – and then quickly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

Twenty-five years after reunification, Tannbach, a television program about a made-up hamlet similar to Mödlareuth, resulted in new interest.

Current Evolutions

The opening of the new museum – with a restaurant, shop, cinema room and sizable vehicle area – is expected to