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An creek so shallow you hardly got your ankles wet divided a community for more than four decades. Due to a quirk of geography, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by evergreen groves, fields and breathtaking scenery, found themselves at the heart of the cold war. They had the misfortune to straddle the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a wall. United States military personnel nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Memorialising History

Months after their own wall was opened, and before their state had unified again in 1990, a group of villagers set about documenting their heritage. The project is close to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially opened by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display was not completely prepared. Addressing the locals who lived through the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an inhuman split, which pulled relatives asunder and turned neighbours into aliens.”

“You were bystanders of an inhuman split, which tore households asunder and turned neighbors into aliens.”

Historical Context

Right from its founding in 1810, the village straddled the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a noble lineage most famous for bestowing all its men the name Heinrich and counting them sequentially by birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the quirk was never an obstacle in the manner of the locals socializing in the very same pub, visiting the very same church and enrolling their kids to the same learning center.

Following WWII Division

Subsequently occurred the World War II. As soon as they arrived, the Russian troops erected timber poles by the stream. For a twelve months they occupied the entire community, establishing their headquarters in a building on the western side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a communist symbol. The American soldiers persuaded them to retreat across the stream. For a period, residents could still hop over, though as limitations tightened they were obliged to display identity papers, although all was aware who they were, and to return at evening.

Intensification of Boundary Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal shutting of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was erected, with mines, tank traps and watchtowers. The locals could continue to observe each other by ascending elevations, but on the eastern side waving and shouting were prohibited. One woman was added to a East German secret police watch list for replying “same to you” to a Bavarian resident who wished her “happy new year”.

Museum Establishment

It was related to me accounts including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated much of his working life building it. Residents were polled early on about how what length of structure they wanted to preserve. They opted for a portion on the west perimeter, near where a local resident managed to flee in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, after which the frontier was heavily fortified.

Conserved Buildings

A pair of guard towers are preserved in addition to a collection of displays illustrating the most dramatic events in the community’s history. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern details the restrictions: not a single person could get closer than 5km of the frontier. Rural residents had to obtain particular approval to look after their fields; the spouse could work the agricultural equipment but never the two, for fear that they attempted to flee. Armed guards were on duty.

Broader Context

The boundary between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran 1,400km, from the northern sea in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and honored the greatest, but over twice as many people (more than 300) died seeking to pass over it in rural areas than in the urban center. Robert Lebegern reminds me that almost all of efforts to cross failed.

Village Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s villagers were rural laborers or artisans, who adapted to dwelling in the uncertain territory between two belief systems by staying low-profile and caring for their fields. They neither endorsed the socialist government nor fought it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Visitors

For tourists, however, the settlement became a kind of destination. About 15k visited annually, viewing tools in possession, to stare – and then swiftly go away. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the national security head.

Twenty five years after reunification, the TV show, a TV series about a imaginary community like Mödlareuth, led to new curiosity.

Modern Developments

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a coffee shop, store, film screening area and sizable parking lot – is expected to