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A creek so low you barely got your feet wet divided a village for over four decades of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a small village surrounded by pine forests, meadows and breathtaking scenery, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a border that was established first by a fence and then by a barricade. American soldiers nicknamed it Little Berlin.

Commemorating the Past

Months after their own wall was torn down, and before their state had become one in 1990, a assembly of residents set about commemorating their past. The project is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual remembrance of the collapse of the Wall in Berlin, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was officially launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the show was not entirely ready. Speaking to the locals who endured the past era, Steinmeier said: “You were witnesses of an cruel division, which ripped relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into strangers.”

“You were witnesses of an brutal separation, which pulled households asunder and turned local residents into aliens.”

Bygone Origins

Even at its founding in 1810, the hamlet straddled the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage most famous for giving all its male members the title Heinrich and counting them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the oddity was never an obstacle in the path of the locals socializing in the identical inn, attending the very same religious building and enrolling their kids to the very same school.

Post-War Separation

Subsequently occurred the World War II. The moment they came, the Russian troops erected wood stakes by the creek. For a annual period they seized the whole hamlet, establishing their command in a dwelling on the western side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The US forces urged them to retreat back over the creek. For a while, locals could still jump across, though as limitations increased they were forced to display identity papers, even though everyone understood who they were, and to go back at evening.

Increase of Frontier Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a concrete structure was built, with landmines, vehicle barriers and observation points. The locals could still see each other by climbing hills, but on the eastern side gesturing and yelling were prohibited. A female resident was put on a Stasi surveillance list for responding “same to you” to a Bavarian local who wished her “prosperous new year”.

Museum Development

I heard accounts such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has dedicated much of his working life developing it. Residents were consulted at an early stage about how how long a section barrier they desired to maintain. They opted for a portion on the western fringe, near where a local resident succeeded to flee in the darkest hours with a ladder, after which the border was heavily strengthened.

Preserved Buildings

Two watchtowers are conserved together with a series of tableaux depicting the most impactful moments in the hamlet’s history. As we move, Robert Lebegern enumerates the restrictions: no one could approach 5km of the border. Farmers required specific authorization to care for their fields; the husband or wife could work the agricultural equipment but not the two, in case they sought to escape. Armed guards were on duty.

Wider Context

The border between Western Germany and the German Democratic Republic stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic Sea in the north to here in the south. Berlin is remembered and documented the most frequently, but in excess of double the number individuals (exceeding 300) were killed seeking to pass over it in rural areas than in the big city. the director tells me that 95% of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Hamlet Life

Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or artisans, who adjusted to living in the uncertain territory between a pair of political systems by keeping their heads down and looking after their fields. They did not endorsed the East German authorities nor opposed it, the director clarifies.

Tourism

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a type of pilgrimage. Roughly fifteen thousand came to visit annually, optical devices in their hands, to stare – and then rapidly go away. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was guided by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after unification, Tannbach, a TV series about a imaginary village similar to Mödlareuth, caused renewed attention.

Present-Day Developments

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a restaurant, boutique, movie theater and large vehicle area – is probable to