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An stream so shallow you hardly got your ankles wet divided a settlement for more than four decades. By an accident of landscape, the 50 locals of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by pine forests, pastures and breathtaking views, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the bad luck to span Bavaria, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a boundary that was marked first by a barrier and then by a partition. United States military personnel called it Small Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Months after their own barrier was opened, and before their state had unified again in 1990, a group of local people started commemorating their history. The effort is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth remembrance of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was publicly launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display was not completely prepared. Speaking to the residents who endured the past era, Steinmeier stated: “You were observers of an inhuman division, which tore households apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”

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

Historical Origins

Even at its establishment in 1810, the village straddled the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a princely house best known for giving all its male members the title Heinrich and labeling them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the oddity never stood in the way of the locals gathering in the identical inn, visiting the very same religious building and enrolling their children to the identical learning center.

Post-War Separation

Then came the second world war. The moment they arrived, the Russian troops put up wood stakes by the brook. For a annual period they took over the complete village, setting up their command in a house on the western side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The Americans urged them to pull back back over the brook. For a period, residents could still hop over, though as restrictions increased they were forced to show ID, despite the fact that all knew who they were, and to go back at night.

Intensification of Frontier Measures

After that, in 1952, came wire fencing and the formal shutting of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a wall was erected, with mines, vehicle barriers and observation points. The locals could still observe each other by climbing hills, but on the east side signaling and yelling were banned. A female resident was placed on a East German secret police surveillance list for answering “same to you” to a Bavarian local who greeted her “happy new year”.

Exhibition Center Development

It was related to me accounts like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated a significant portion of his occupational time building it. Villagers were polled early on about how what length of structure they wished to preserve. They opted for a portion on the west fringe, near where a villager was able to escape in the dead of night with a ladder, following which the frontier was heavily fortified.

Preserved Structures

2 observation towers are preserved alongside a series of exhibits illustrating the most significant dates in the community’s chronicle. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern lists the rules: no one could get closer than 5km of the border. Farmers needed special permission to look after their fields; the partner could operate the combine harvester but not both, for fear that they tried to flee. Armed guards stood watch.

Wider Background

The frontier between West Germany and the East Germany extended 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to the south in the south. Berlin is remembered and honored the most, but more than two times more individuals (well over 300) lost their lives attempting to pass over it in provincial zones than in the urban center. the director informs me that almost all of escape attempts failed.

Hamlet Existence

Most of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or craftsmen, who adjusted to residing in the uncertain territory between 2 political systems by staying low-profile and caring for their fields. They neither supported the communist regime nor fought it, Lebegern explains.

Tourism

For tourists, however, the village became a sort of destination. Roughly 15k came to see every year, viewing tools in hand, to look – and then quickly go away. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the national security head.

25 years after reunification, Tannbach, a TV series about a imaginary village resembling Mödlareuth, caused fresh attention.

Current Evolutions

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a restaurant, shop, cinema room and large vehicle area – is expected to