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An creek so shallow you hardly got your ankles wet divided a village for in excess of four decades. By an accident of landscape, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by coniferous woods, meadows and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to cross the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was established first by a enclosure and then by a partition. US troops dubbed it Small Berlin.

Commemorating History

Months after their own barrier was opened, and even before their country had reunified in 1990, a assembly of villagers set about commemorating their history. The project is soon to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was formally launched by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely prepared. Speaking to the villagers who endured the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were witnesses of an brutal split, which pulled households asunder and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

“You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which pulled relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Past Context

Even at its establishment in 1810, the village straddled the Royal Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a royal family most famous for bestowing all its male members the designation Heinrich and labeling them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the quirk never stood in the path of the inhabitants socializing in the identical pub, visiting the identical church and enrolling their children to the identical learning center.

After the War Split

Next arrived the second world war. The moment they appeared, the Russians erected wood stakes by the stream. For a twelve months they took over the complete village, creating their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The American soldiers convinced them to pull back back over the brook. For a period, residents could still jump across, though as restrictions increased they were forced to show identification, even though everyone understood who they were, and to go back at evening.

Intensification of Border Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was erected, with explosives, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The residents could still view each other by climbing hills, but on the Soviet side waving and shouting were forbidden. A local woman was placed on a GDR intelligence monitoring list for replying “same to you” to a Bavarian villager who wished her “happy new year”.

Exhibition Center Development

I heard narratives such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated a significant portion of his occupational time building it. Residents were polled at an early stage about how much wall they wanted to maintain. They opted for a portion on the western edge, adjacent to where one of their own was able to get away in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, following which the frontier was significantly strengthened.

Maintained Buildings

Two watchtowers are preserved together with a set of displays depicting the most significant dates in the village’s chronicle. As we stroll, the director details the rules: not a single person could come within 5km of the boundary. Farmers had to obtain specific authorization to care for their crops; the spouse could use the combine harvester but not the pair, for fear that they tried to flee. Soldiers kept guard.

Wider Perspective

The frontier between West Germany and the East Germany extended nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the south in the south. Berlin is commemorated and documented the greatest, but in excess of twice as many individuals (well over 300) lost their lives seeking to pass over it in provincial zones than in the urban center. Robert Lebegern informs me that 95 percent of escape attempts failed.

Community Daily Living

Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were rural laborers or skilled workers, who accommodated to residing in the uncertain territory between two ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and looking after their fields. They did not backed the communist regime nor opposed it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Tourism

For sightseers, however, the village became a kind of site of interest. Approximately 15k visited each year, viewing tools in possession, to look – and then rapidly leave. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after reunification, the TV show, a television program about a made-up hamlet resembling Mödlareuth, caused renewed curiosity.

Modern Evolutions

The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, store, cinema room and large vehicle area – is likely to