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A brook so narrow you scarcely got your ankles wet separated a settlement for over four decades. Because of a chance of geography, the 50 locals of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement encircled by coniferous woods, pastures and stunning views, found themselves at the core of the Cold War tensions. They had the bad luck to straddle Bavaria, in West Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a border that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a partition. American soldiers dubbed it Mini Berlin.

Memorialising History

Months after their own division was opened, and before their state had unified again in 1990, a assembly of villagers set about memorialising their past. The project is about to come to fruition: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth remembrance of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was formally opened by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the exhibition was not completely ready. Speaking to the residents who lived through the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an brutal split, which tore households apart and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

“You were witnesses of an cruel separation, which tore relatives asunder and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Bygone Origins

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the community spanned the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a princely house most famous for bestowing all its men the name Heinrich and numbering them in order by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the gathering, the peculiarity did not stand in the manner of the inhabitants socializing in the identical tavern, going to the same religious building and sending their young ones to the same learning center.

Post-War Split

Next arrived the global conflict. Immediately after they arrived, the Russians installed wood stakes by the brook. For a annual period they took over the entire hamlet, creating their control center in a building on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a communist symbol. The Americans urged them to pull back to the other side of the stream. For a period, villagers could still hop over, though as restrictions became stricter they were required to display ID, although all knew who they were, and to go back at night.

Intensification of Border Measures

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and watchtowers. The villagers could continue to see each other by climbing elevations, but on the east side signaling and calling out were forbidden. A local woman was put on a GDR intelligence surveillance list for answering “back at you” to a West German villager who said her “good new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

I was told stories such as these by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated much of his working life creating it. Locals were consulted early on about how how long a section structure they wished to maintain. They opted for a section on the Bavarian fringe, close to where a local resident managed to get away in the darkest hours with a ladder, following which the border was substantially reinforced.

Conserved Structures

Two watchtowers are maintained in addition to a series of exhibits showing the most impactful dates in the community’s past. As we walk, the director details the regulations: no one could approach 5km of the border. Farmers required special permission to care for their crops; the partner could operate the agricultural equipment but not both, for fear that they tried to make a run for it. Military personnel were on duty.

Wider Context

The border between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the north to here in the south. Berlin is commemorated and documented the most frequently, but over twice as many people (well over 300) lost their lives seeking to traverse it in provincial zones than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern informs me that 95 percent of efforts to cross were unsuccessful.

Village Daily Living

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or skilled workers, who adjusted to residing in the ambiguous area between two ideological spheres by staying low-profile and caring for their land. They did not supported the socialist government nor opposed it, the director explains.

Tourism

For tourists, however, the hamlet became a sort of destination. About 15k visited every year, optical devices in their hands, to look – and then rapidly depart. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was shown around by the national security head.

Twenty five years after unification, the television series, a broadcast production about a fictional village resembling Mödlareuth, led to fresh attention.

Current Evolutions

The inauguration of the new museum – with a cafe, store, cinema room and big car park – is probable to