Major Problems in ‘Tiny Berlin’: This Minuscule Hamlet Divided in Two by the Cold War Era

An creek so low you barely got your feet wet divided a settlement for more than four decades. Because of a chance of geography, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by evergreen groves, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the center of the cold war. They had the misfortune to cross the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the Eastern part, a border that was established first by a barrier and then by a partition. American soldiers nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Commemorating History

Several months after their own barrier was opened, and even before their nation had reunified in 1990, a assembly of villagers started documenting their history. The work is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th annual remembrance of the collapse of the Wall in Berlin, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was publicly opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not entirely ready. Telling the residents who lived through the past era, Steinmeier said: “You were witnesses of an brutal separation, which tore families asunder and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were observers of an brutal separation, which pulled households apart and turned neighbors into aliens.”

Historical Context

Starting at its creation in 1810, the hamlet straddled the Bavarian Kingdom and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family most famous for assigning all its men the title Heinrich and numbering them sequentially by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the quirk was never an obstacle in the path of the locals gathering in the same inn, visiting the very same religious building and sending their kids to the same school.

After the War Separation

Subsequently occurred the World War II. Immediately after they appeared, the Russians erected wood stakes by the creek. For a annual period they took over the complete village, creating their control center in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The US forces convinced them to retreat across the creek. For a period, residents could continue to hop over, though as limitations became stricter they were required to display identity papers, even though everyone was aware who they were, and to return at night.

Escalation of Border Controls

After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal sealing of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a barrier was constructed, with landmines, vehicle barriers and observation points. The locals could continue to view each other by climbing hills, but on the eastern side signaling and calling out were banned. A local woman was placed on a GDR intelligence watch list for answering “likewise” to a West German resident who said her “good new year”.

Museum Creation

I was told narratives including these by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has spent a large part of his working life building it. Residents were polled early on about how how long a section structure they wished to maintain. They chose a portion on the Bavarian edge, close to where a local resident succeeded to get away in the middle of the night with a climbing device, following which the boundary was significantly reinforced.

Conserved Buildings

2 observation towers are conserved alongside a set of displays illustrating the most significant dates in the village’s history. As we walk, the director details the regulations: no one could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Rural residents required special permission to tend to their crops; the husband or wife could work the harvesting machine but not both, lest they attempted to escape. Armed guards stood watch.

Broader Background

The border between Western Germany and the GDR extended 1,400km, from the northern sea in the northern part to the south in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and honored the most frequently, but more than double the number individuals (well over 300) lost their lives trying to traverse it in provincial zones than in the big city. the director informs me that 95 percent of attempts to flee failed.

Village Life

The majority of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or skilled workers, who adjusted to residing in the grey zone between two ideological spheres by staying low-profile and caring for their farms. They did not supported the East German authorities nor resisted it, the director explains.

Interest

For tourists, however, the village became a kind of pilgrimage. About 15k came to see every year, binoculars in hand, to look – and then swiftly go away. In 1983, the US president, George Bush, was given a tour by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after merger, the TV show, a TV series about a fictional community similar to Mödlareuth, caused new interest.

Present-Day Evolutions

The launch of the new museum – with a coffee shop, shop, movie theater and big vehicle area – is likely to