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A creek so shallow you barely got your feet wet split a village for over four decades worth of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a small village surrounded by evergreen groves, fields and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the misfortune to cross the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a boundary that was established first by a barrier and then by a wall. US troops dubbed it Small Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Several months after their own division was torn down, and prior to their country had unified again in 1990, a assembly of villagers began commemorating their heritage. The work is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth remembrance of the fall of the German barrier, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially opened by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not completely finished. Telling the residents who lived through the former times, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an brutal separation, which tore households apart and turned neighbors into aliens.”

“You were bystanders of an inhuman split, which ripped relatives apart and turned local residents into strangers.”

Historical Origins

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the community cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a princely house best known for assigning all its male members the name Heinrich and counting them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the peculiarity did not stand in the way of the inhabitants socializing in the same tavern, visiting the same place of worship and enrolling their young ones to the identical educational institution.

Post-War Separation

Then came the global conflict. As soon as they came, the Russians put up timber poles by the creek. For a annual period they occupied the complete village, setting up their headquarters in a house on the western side, embellishing it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces convinced them to pull back across the creek. For a time, residents could still hop over, though as controls tightened they were required to display ID, although each person knew who they were, and to come back at night.

Increase of Border Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came wire fencing and the official sealing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was built, with mines, anti-tank obstacles and observation points. The locals could still observe each other by scaling hills, but on the eastern side gesturing and yelling were prohibited. A local woman was placed on a Stasi surveillance list for answering “likewise” to a West German resident who said her “happy new year”.

Exhibition Center Creation

It was related to me stories like these by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent much of his professional career developing it. Residents were consulted in the initial phases about how what length of wall they desired to maintain. They opted for a stretch on the Bavarian fringe, near where a villager was able to flee in the middle of the night with a climbing device, subsequently the frontier was significantly fortified.

Preserved Structures

Two watchtowers are conserved alongside a set of displays showing the most dramatic moments in the community’s history. As we move, the director enumerates the rules: no one could approach 5km of the border. Agricultural workers required special permission to care for their produce; the partner could use the combine harvester but never the pair, in case they sought to flee. Armed guards stood watch.

Wider Background

The boundary between Western Germany and the GDR ran nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to here in the south. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the greatest, but more than two times more individuals (more than 300) died trying to cross it in countryside regions than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern informs me that almost all of efforts to cross failed.

Community Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s locals were rural laborers or artisans, who adjusted to dwelling in the grey zone between two belief systems by avoiding attention and looking after their farms. They neither backed the East German authorities nor resisted it, Lebegern clarifies.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the village became a kind of destination. About 15k came to visit every year, binoculars in possession, to look – and then quickly go away. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after merger, the TV show, a television program about a fictional village similar to Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed curiosity.

Present-Day Changes

The launch of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, boutique, movie theater and big vehicle area – is expected to