🔗 Share this article

An creek so shallow you scarcely got your feet wet split a community for more than four decades of time. Because of a chance of topography, the half a hundred residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by coniferous woods, meadows and breathtaking scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to span Bavaria, in West Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was established first by a enclosure and then by a partition. United States military personnel dubbed it Little Berlin.

Preserving History

A few months after their own wall was opened, and prior to their country had become one in 1990, a group of residents set about documenting their history. The work is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual anniversary of the fall of the Wall in Berlin, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was publicly opened by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the show wasn’t quite ready. Addressing the villagers who endured the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an inhuman split, which ripped households apart and turned neighbors into foreigners.”

“You were bystanders of an brutal split, which ripped households asunder and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Historical Context

Right from its establishment in 1810, the hamlet spanned the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a noble lineage most famous for assigning all its male members the title Heinrich and labeling them sequentially by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the gathering, the oddity did not stand in the manner of the inhabitants socializing in the very same inn, going to the same church and placing their kids to the same educational institution.

Following WWII Division

Then came the global conflict. Immediately after they arrived, the Russians put up timber poles by the creek. For a twelve months they took over the entire hamlet, establishing their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, embellishing it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The Americans urged them to retreat back over the stream. For a while, locals could still cross over, though as restrictions increased they were obliged to display identity papers, despite the fact that all knew who they were, and to return at night.

Increase of Border Measures

After that, in 1952, came wire fencing and the formal closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was built, with mines, anti-tank obstacles and observation points. The residents could continue to view each other by climbing elevations, but on the eastern side waving and calling out were banned. A female resident was put on a GDR intelligence surveillance list for answering “same to you” to a West German local who said her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Development

It was related to me accounts such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated a significant portion of his occupational time building it. Residents were consulted early on about how much structure they wanted to keep. They chose a stretch on the west edge, close to where a local resident succeeded to get away in the darkest hours with a ladder, subsequently the frontier was significantly reinforced.

Preserved Installations

A pair of watchtowers are preserved alongside a series of exhibits depicting the most significant moments in the community’s past. As we stroll, the director enumerates the rules: nobody could come within 5km of the border. Farmers required special permission to care for their crops; the spouse could operate the agricultural equipment but not the two, for fear that they attempted to flee. Military personnel were on duty.

Broader Context

The border between West Germany and the GDR ran 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic coast in the north to here in the southern region. Berlin is remembered and honored the most, but in excess of two times more people (more than 300) died attempting to pass over it in rural areas than in the big city. Robert Lebegern tells me that 95% of efforts to cross failed.

Village Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were agricultural workers or artisans, who adapted to dwelling in the uncertain territory between two political systems by avoiding attention and looking after their fields. They neither endorsed the East German authorities nor fought it, Robert Lebegern explains.

Tourism

For visitors, however, the village became a type of site of interest. Roughly fifteen thousand came to visit annually, viewing tools in possession, to look – and then quickly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.

Twenty-five years after reunification, the television series, a TV series about a made-up community resembling Mödlareuth, led to fresh curiosity.

Present-Day Changes

The inauguration of the recently established museum – with a cafe, shop, movie theater and sizable parking lot – is likely to