Major Problems in ‘Little Berlin’: The Small Village Divided in Two by the Cold War Period
A creek so shallow you barely got your ankles wet separated a community for over four decades worth of time. Due to a quirk of topography, the fifty residents of Mödlareuth, a small village encircled by pine forests, pastures and stunning views, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was established first by a fence and then by a wall. US troops called it Mini Berlin.
Preserving History
Several months after their own wall was opened, and before their nation had reunified in 1990, a collection of residents set about documenting their history. The project is soon to reach completion: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the demolition of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was publicly launched by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display was not completely prepared. Speaking to the residents who experienced the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an brutal split, which ripped families asunder and turned neighbors into aliens.”
“You were observers of an inhuman division, which pulled families apart and turned neighbors into strangers.”
Historical Origins
Even at its establishment in 1810, the community spanned the Bavarian Kingdom and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family most renowned for giving all its male descendants the name Heinrich and counting them consecutively by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the audience, the oddity was never an obstacle in the way of the residents drinking in the identical inn, visiting the very same religious building and enrolling their children to the very same learning center.
After the War Division
Next arrived the World War II. As soon as they appeared, the Russian troops put up timber poles by the creek. For a annual period they took over the complete village, creating their command in a dwelling on the western side, adorning it with a image of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The US forces urged them to pull back across the stream. For a period, villagers could continue to hop over, though as limitations tightened they were forced to show ID, despite the fact that everyone was aware who they were, and to come back at after dark.
Escalation of Boundary Measures
Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin five years earlier, a concrete structure was constructed, with explosives, vehicle barriers and guard posts. The locals could continue to view each other by ascending slopes, but on the east side signaling and calling out were prohibited. A female resident was added to a East German secret police watch list for answering “same to you” to a western local who greeted her “prosperous new year”.
Exhibition Center Development
It was related to me narratives including these tales by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated a large part of his professional career building it. Residents were asked at an early stage about how much structure they wanted to maintain. They opted for a stretch on the west edge, near where one of their own succeeded to flee in the darkest hours with a scaling tool, subsequently the boundary was heavily fortified.
Preserved Buildings
2 guard towers are conserved in addition to a collection of exhibits depicting the most dramatic moments in the hamlet’s history. As we move, the director enumerates the restrictions: nobody could approach 5km of the boundary. Rural residents had to obtain specific authorization to tend to their crops; the spouse could work the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances the pair, for fear that they tried to escape. Soldiers kept guard.
Wider Perspective
The frontier between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to here in the south. Berlin is remembered and memorialised the most frequently, but in excess of double the number individuals (more than 300) died seeking to pass over it in countryside regions than in the big city. Lebegern informs me that 95 percent of escape attempts failed.
Village Existence
Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or craftsmen, who adjusted to residing in the uncertain territory between 2 belief systems by keeping their heads down and caring for their land. They did not endorsed the communist regime nor opposed it, Robert Lebegern explains.
Tourism
For visitors, however, the hamlet became a kind of destination. Approximately 15,000 came to see annually, optical devices in hand, to stare – and then rapidly go away. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.
Twenty five years after unification, Tannbach, a TV series about a fictional hamlet resembling Mödlareuth, caused new attention.
Current Changes
The opening of the recently established museum – with a coffee shop, store, film screening area and large car park – is likely to