🔗 Share this article

An brook so narrow you barely got your ankles wet separated a settlement for over four decades of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by coniferous woods, pastures and spectacular views, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a wall. American soldiers nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Preserving Historical Events

Months after their own division was opened, and even before their country had unified again in 1990, a assembly of residents started commemorating their history. The project is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th commemoration of the fall of the Wall in Berlin, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will open. It was formally opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the exhibition wasn’t quite prepared. Telling the villagers who lived through the past era, Steinmeier said: “You were witnesses of an cruel division, which tore households asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were witnesses of an cruel separation, which tore families apart and turned local residents into strangers.”

Past Context

Right from its establishment in 1810, the community cut across the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a royal family most famous for assigning all its male members the title Heinrich and counting them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the peculiarity did not stand in the manner of the residents socializing in the same pub, attending the very same church and sending their children to the very same educational institution.

Following WWII Division

Then came the global conflict. As soon as they came, the Soviet forces erected wooden posts by the stream. For a twelve months they occupied the whole community, creating their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, decorating it with a portrait of Stalin and a communist symbol. The Americans convinced them to pull back back over the stream. For a period, villagers could still cross over, though as limitations increased they were obliged to show ID, even though all was aware who they were, and to come back at night.

Escalation of Boundary Restrictions

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official sealing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a barrier was constructed, with explosives, anti-tank obstacles and observation points. The residents could still see each other by ascending elevations, but on the Soviet side gesturing and shouting were banned. A female resident was added to a East German secret police surveillance list for responding “likewise” to a West German local who greeted her “happy new year”.

Museum Creation

It was related to me narratives including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent a large part of his working life creating it. Villagers were polled early on about how much structure they wanted to preserve. They opted for a portion on the western fringe, adjacent to where a villager managed to get away in the darkest hours with a climbing device, after which the border was significantly reinforced.

Maintained Buildings

2 watchtowers are maintained alongside a collection of displays depicting the most impactful moments in the village’s chronicle. As we walk, Lebergen details the rules: not a single person could approach 5km of the boundary. Farmers had to obtain special permission to tend to their produce; the husband or wife could operate the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances both, in case they attempted to flee. Military personnel stood watch.

Wider Perspective

The boundary between Western Germany and the East Germany stretched 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the greatest, but over two times more persons (exceeding 300) were killed trying to pass over it in rural areas than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern informs me that 95% of efforts to cross did not succeed.

Community Life

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or craftsmen, who adapted to living in the uncertain territory between two belief systems by keeping their heads down and caring for their land. They neither endorsed the socialist government nor resisted it, the director states.

Tourism

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a type of pilgrimage. About 15k came to visit annually, optical devices in their hands, to gawp – and then quickly leave. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after reunification, the TV show, a television program about a made-up village like Mödlareuth, led to fresh interest.

Modern Changes

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a restaurant, store, movie theater and large parking lot – is expected to