Big Trouble in ‘Miniature Berlin’: The Minuscule Village Split in Half by the Cold War

A stream so low you scarcely got your feet wet divided a village for in excess of four decades worth of time. By an accident of topography, the 50 locals of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by coniferous woods, pastures and spectacular views, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to straddle the Bavarian region, in West Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a border that was marked first by a barrier and then by a wall. American soldiers nicknamed it Small Berlin.

Memorialising History

A few months after their own barrier was opened, and prior to their state had become one in 1990, a assembly of villagers started documenting their heritage. The project is close to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the demolition of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was publicly opened by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display wasn’t quite ready. Addressing the villagers who endured the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an brutal split, which tore families into pieces and turned local residents into foreigners.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel split, which pulled families apart and turned neighbours into aliens.”

Historical Background

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the village cut across the Royal Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a royal family most renowned for giving all its men the designation Heinrich and labeling them sequentially by birth order. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the oddity did not stand in the way of the inhabitants drinking in the very same tavern, attending the same church and placing their children to the very same learning center.

Following WWII Separation

Then came the global conflict. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces installed timber poles by the creek. For a twelve months they seized the whole village, establishing their control center in a house on the western side, decorating it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The Americans persuaded them to retreat across the creek. For a period, villagers could continue to jump across, though as restrictions increased they were required to present identification, although all was aware who they were, and to return at evening.

Increase of Boundary Restrictions

Then, in 1952, came barbed wire and the official shutting of the frontier. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a wall was built, with explosives, anti-tank obstacles and watchtowers. The residents could still view each other by climbing elevations, but on the east side waving and calling out were banned. One woman was put on a Stasi monitoring list for responding “likewise” to a West German local who greeted her “happy new year”.

Heritage Site Creation

I was told stories such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has spent a large part of his occupational time creating it. Villagers were asked at an early stage about how what length of structure they wished to maintain. They selected a portion on the Bavarian fringe, close to where a local resident was able to escape in the dead of night with a scaling tool, subsequently the frontier was substantially strengthened.

Preserved Installations

2 watchtowers are maintained alongside a collection of tableaux showing the most dramatic dates in the community’s history. As we move, the director lists the restrictions: nobody could come within 5km of the boundary. Farmers needed specific authorization to tend to their crops; the spouse could use the harvesting machine but not the pair, for fear that they attempted to make a run for it. Military personnel were on duty.

Broader Perspective

The boundary between the Federal Republic and the GDR extended 1,400km, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to here in the southern region. Berlin is commemorated and memorialised the most, but in excess of double the number people (more than 300) died attempting to cross it in provincial zones than in the big city. the director reminds me that 95% of attempts to flee failed.

Village Existence

The majority of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or artisans, who accommodated to dwelling in the grey zone between a pair of ideological spheres by staying low-profile and tending to their land. They did not endorsed the socialist government nor opposed it, the director explains.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the hamlet became a kind of destination. Approximately fifteen thousand came to visit every year, optical devices in hand, to look – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was shown around by the national security head.

25 years after unification, Tannbach, a television program about a fictional hamlet similar to Mödlareuth, caused renewed interest.

Current Evolutions

The launch of the new museum – with a coffee shop, store, cinema room and large vehicle area – is likely to