Major Problems in ‘Little Berlin’: This Small Village Split in Two by the Cold War Era

A brook so shallow you barely got your ankles wet divided a settlement for in excess of four decades worth of time. Due to a quirk of geography, the 50 locals of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement bordered by evergreen groves, fields and breathtaking views, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the bad luck to span Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a boundary that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a wall. American soldiers nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Months after their own wall was torn down, and before their country had reunified in 1990, a group of residents set about memorialising their history. The project is about to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th anniversary of the demolition of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was formally opened by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the first part of October, but the show wasn’t quite finished. Speaking to the residents who endured the past era, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an cruel division, which tore families asunder and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which pulled households asunder and turned local residents into aliens.”

Historical Origins

Right from its founding in 1810, the village spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Principality of Reuss, a princely house most famous for giving all its men the name Heinrich and labeling them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the peculiarity did not stand in the path of the inhabitants gathering in the very same tavern, attending the identical place of worship and sending their kids to the identical learning center.

Following WWII Split

Subsequently occurred the global conflict. As soon as they appeared, the Russian troops installed wooden posts by the brook. For a year they seized the complete village, establishing their headquarters in a building on the western side, embellishing it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers convinced them to pull back back over the stream. For a time, locals could continue to hop over, though as restrictions increased they were forced to present identification, even though everyone understood who they were, and to go back at after dark.

Intensification of Frontier Measures

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the formal shutting of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a wall was built, with landmines, vehicle barriers and observation points. The villagers could still see each other by ascending hills, but on the eastern side waving and yelling were prohibited. A local woman was added to a East German secret police surveillance list for answering “likewise” to a Bavarian resident who greeted her “prosperous new year”.

Exhibition Center Development

I heard narratives like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has spent much of his professional career building it. Locals were asked early on about how how long a section wall they wanted to preserve. They opted for a section on the western perimeter, close to where a villager succeeded to flee in the middle of the night with a ladder, after which the border was substantially fortified.

Maintained Structures

Two watchtowers are maintained in addition to a set of tableaux depicting the most impactful dates in the hamlet’s past. As we move, the director enumerates the restrictions: not a single person could come within 5km of the border. Farmers needed specific authorization to look after their crops; the husband or wife could use the combine harvester but never the two, for fear that they tried to make a run for it. Military personnel were on duty.

Broader Context

The border between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic extended 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the north to this location in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and documented the most, but more than twice as many persons (more than 300) were killed seeking to traverse it in rural areas than in the big city. Robert Lebegern tells me that 95% of escape attempts did not succeed.

Village Life

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were farmers or skilled workers, who adapted to living in the uncertain territory between two political systems by staying low-profile and caring for their fields. They nor did they endorsed the socialist government nor resisted it, Lebegern explains.

Tourism

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a type of site of interest. About 15k came to visit each year, binoculars in their hands, to stare – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the national security head.

25 years after reunification, the television series, a broadcast production about a imaginary community similar to Mödlareuth, led to new interest.

Present-Day Developments

The opening of the new museum – with a coffee shop, store, movie theater and big parking lot – is likely to