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An creek so shallow you barely got your ankles wet separated a settlement for in excess of four decades. By an accident of topography, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement bordered by coniferous woods, fields and breathtaking views, found themselves at the center of the cold war. They had the misfortune to span the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a border that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a wall. US troops nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Preserving the Past

A few months after their own barrier was breached, and even before their state had unified again in 1990, a collection of local people set about memorialising their heritage. The effort is close to be completed: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth remembrance of the demolition of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially opened by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the exhibition wasn’t quite ready. Speaking to the villagers who experienced the old days, Steinmeier said: “You were witnesses of an inhuman division, which tore households apart and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were witnesses of an cruel split, which pulled families apart and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Historical Origins

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the community cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a princely house most famous for bestowing all its male descendants the title Heinrich and counting them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the gathering, the quirk never stood in the way of the residents drinking in the same tavern, attending the very same religious building and sending their kids to the very same learning center.

Following WWII Division

Then came the second world war. Immediately after they appeared, the Russians erected wood stakes by the stream. For a annual period they seized the whole hamlet, setting up their control center in a house on the western side, adorning it with a portrait of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The US forces convinced them to withdraw across the creek. For a time, villagers could still cross over, though as limitations increased they were required to present identification, even though everyone understood who they were, and to go back at after dark.

Escalation of Border Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the legal sealing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a wall was erected, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The locals could still observe each other by scaling elevations, but on the eastern side waving and shouting were forbidden. A female resident was added to a Stasi watch list for responding “likewise” to a Bavarian resident who wished her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

I heard accounts such as these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has spent a large part of his working life creating it. Locals were consulted early on about how what length of barrier they desired to preserve. They opted for a section on the western perimeter, adjacent to where a villager succeeded to get away in the darkest hours with a ladder, following which the boundary was substantially reinforced.

Maintained Buildings

Two observation towers are preserved in addition to a series of exhibits illustrating the most impactful dates in the village’s past. As we move, Lebergen details the restrictions: no one could get closer than 5km of the frontier. Rural residents needed specific authorization to look after their produce; the spouse could work the combine harvester but under no circumstances both, for fear that they attempted to make a run for it. Military personnel stood watch.

Broader Background

The border between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is remembered and memorialised the most, but over double the number persons (well over 300) lost their lives seeking to pass over it in countryside regions than in the big city. Robert Lebegern informs me that 95% of efforts to cross were unsuccessful.

Village Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or craftsmen, who adjusted to dwelling in the ambiguous area between a pair of ideological spheres by avoiding attention and looking after their fields. They did not endorsed the East German authorities nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern explains.

Interest

For visitors, however, the village became a type of destination. About 15k visited annually, binoculars in their hands, to gawp – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defense official.

Twenty-five years after reunification, Tannbach, a TV series about a imaginary community like Mödlareuth, led to renewed curiosity.

Current Changes

The opening of the new museum – with a coffee shop, shop, cinema room and big vehicle area – is probable to