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A brook so narrow you barely got your feet wet divided a community for over four decades. Because of a chance of geography, the 50 locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by coniferous woods, fields and breathtaking views, found themselves at the heart of the cold war. They had the misfortune to span the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a boundary that was marked first by a fence and then by a partition. American soldiers dubbed it Little Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

Several months after their own wall was opened, and prior to their state had unified again in 1990, a collection of local people set about documenting their heritage. The work is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the fall of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was formally launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not entirely finished. Addressing the villagers who lived through the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an cruel separation, which tore families into pieces and turned neighbors into aliens.”

“You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which tore relatives apart and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Historical Origins

Right from its founding in 1810, the village spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family most renowned for giving all its male descendants the title Heinrich and counting them sequentially by date of birth. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the oddity did not stand in the path of the inhabitants drinking in the very same inn, visiting the same religious building and sending their children to the very same learning center.

Following WWII Division

Subsequently occurred the global conflict. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces installed wood stakes by the brook. For a twelve months they seized the complete community, creating their headquarters in a building on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers convinced them to retreat back over the brook. For a period, locals could still cross over, though as controls tightened they were required to present identification, although each person knew who they were, and to go back at evening.

Escalation of Boundary Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official shutting of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was erected, with mines, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The locals could continue to view each other by ascending elevations, but on the Soviet side gesturing and yelling were forbidden. A female resident was put on a Stasi monitoring list for responding “back at you” to a western local who wished her “prosperous new year”.

Exhibition Center Establishment

I heard stories like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent a significant portion of his working life developing it. Villagers were polled at an early stage about how how long a section barrier they wanted to preserve. They selected a portion on the Bavarian fringe, near where a local resident succeeded to get away in the darkest hours with a climbing device, subsequently the border was heavily strengthened.

Maintained Structures

2 watchtowers are preserved together with a collection of displays depicting the most dramatic moments in the community’s past. As we move, Robert Lebegern lists the rules: no one could get closer than 5km of the frontier. Rural residents required special permission to look after their crops; the partner could operate the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances both, in case they attempted to escape. Armed guards were on duty.

Broader Background

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic extended nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and documented the greatest, but more than double the number people (well over 300) were killed trying to pass over it in provincial zones than in the big city. Robert Lebegern tells me that almost all of escape attempts did not succeed.

Village Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or craftsmen, who accommodated to residing in the grey zone between 2 ideological spheres by avoiding attention and caring for their land. They did not supported the communist regime nor resisted it, the director explains.

Tourism

For visitors, however, the village became a sort of pilgrimage. Roughly 15,000 came to visit each year, optical devices in hand, to gawp – and then rapidly leave. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was guided by the national security head.

25 years after unification, the TV show, a broadcast production about a made-up community similar to Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed interest.

Current Developments

The launch of the new museum – with a cafe, boutique, cinema room and large parking lot – is likely to