Big Trouble in ‘Miniature Berlin’: The Small Settlement Split in Two by the Cold War Era

A brook so shallow you hardly got your feet wet divided a settlement for in excess of four decades of time. Because of a chance of topography, the fifty locals of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by evergreen groves, pastures and spectacular views, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the misfortune to cross Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a border that was demarcated first by a fence and then by a barricade. US troops dubbed it Little Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Months after their own wall was torn down, and even before their nation had reunified in 1990, a assembly of residents started commemorating their history. The project is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth commemoration of the collapse of the Wall in Berlin, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the show was not entirely ready. Speaking to the residents who endured the old days, Steinmeier said: “You were witnesses of an cruel separation, which tore families apart and turned neighbors into strangers.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel division, which ripped families asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

Historical Background

Starting at its founding in 1810, the community straddled the Royal Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage best known for assigning all its male descendants the title Heinrich and labeling them sequentially by birth. As Steinmeier informed the crowd, the quirk was never an obstacle in the manner of the residents gathering in the very same inn, going to the very same place of worship and placing their young ones to the same school.

Following WWII Division

Next arrived the global conflict. As soon as they came, the Russians put up timber poles by the brook. For a year they took over the entire community, creating their headquarters in a house on the Bavarian territory side, decorating it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The Americans urged them to retreat across the stream. For a time, residents could continue to jump across, though as restrictions tightened they were forced to present identity papers, even though all knew who they were, and to return at after dark.

Increase of Border Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal shutting of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a concrete structure was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and observation points. The residents could still see each other by climbing hills, but on the eastern side gesturing and yelling were banned. One woman was placed on a GDR intelligence surveillance list for responding “likewise” to a West German villager who wished her “happy new year”.

Museum Establishment

I heard narratives including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated much of his professional career building it. Residents were consulted at an early stage about how how long a section structure they wanted to maintain. They opted for a section on the Bavarian edge, adjacent to where one of their own succeeded to flee in the middle of the night with a scaling tool, after which the border was significantly strengthened.

Maintained Installations

2 watchtowers are maintained in addition to a set of displays depicting the most dramatic events in the village’s chronicle. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the restrictions: nobody could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Farmers needed special permission to look after their produce; the husband or wife could operate the harvesting machine but never the two, for fear that they sought to escape. Military personnel were on duty.

Larger Background

The border between West Germany and the GDR stretched 1,400km, from the northern sea in the northern part to the south in the southern region. Berlin is remembered and honored the greatest, but in excess of twice as many individuals (more than 300) died attempting to pass over it in countryside regions than in the urban center. Robert Lebegern informs me that 95% of efforts to cross failed.

Community Daily Living

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s locals were farmers or artisans, who adapted to dwelling in the uncertain territory between two ideological spheres by avoiding attention and tending to their fields. They nor did they backed the socialist government nor resisted it, Robert Lebegern clarifies.

Interest

For tourists, however, the hamlet became a type of destination. About fifteen thousand came to visit annually, binoculars in hand, to stare – and then quickly go away. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was guided by the national security head.

Twenty five years after unification, Tannbach, a TV series about a made-up community like Mödlareuth, caused fresh interest.

Modern Evolutions

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