Major Difficulties in ‘Little Berlin’: The Small Hamlet Divided in Half by the Cold War
An stream so low you hardly got your feet wet divided a community for more than four decades of time. Because of a chance of landscape, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement surrounded by pine forests, meadows and spectacular vistas, found themselves at the core of the cold war. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span Bavaria, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the Soviet sector, a border that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a wall. American soldiers dubbed it Mini Berlin.
Preserving History
Several months after their own wall was breached, and prior to their nation had unified again in 1990, a collection of residents began memorialising their past. The project is about to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th commemoration of the demolition of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially inaugurated by the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not completely finished. Addressing the residents who endured the former times, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an brutal division, which ripped households apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”
“You were observers of an inhuman separation, which ripped families asunder and turned neighbours into foreigners.”
Bygone Origins
Even at its founding in 1810, the hamlet straddled the Royal Bavaria and the Principality of Reuss, a royal family best known for assigning all its male descendants the name Heinrich and numbering them sequentially by date of birth. As Steinmeier told the audience, the quirk was never an obstacle in the manner of the residents socializing in the identical inn, visiting the same church and sending their young ones to the identical school.
After the War Split
Subsequently occurred the global conflict. The moment they appeared, the Soviet forces installed timber poles by the brook. For a year they occupied the whole hamlet, establishing their control center in a house on the Bavarian side, decorating it with a image of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The American soldiers persuaded them to retreat back over the brook. For a period, residents could still jump across, though as restrictions became stricter they were forced to present identification, despite the fact that all knew who they were, and to return at evening.
Escalation of Boundary Measures
After that, in 1952, came metal barriers and the official closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a wall was constructed, with explosives, tank traps and observation points. The villagers could still observe each other by scaling slopes, but on the eastern side gesturing and yelling were prohibited. A female resident was placed on a GDR intelligence monitoring list for responding “likewise” to a Bavarian villager who wished her “prosperous new year”.
Museum Creation
I was told accounts including these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated a significant portion of his occupational time building it. Locals were asked early on about how what length of structure they wanted to keep. They selected a stretch on the west fringe, near where one of their own succeeded to get away in the middle of the night with a climbing device, after which the boundary was heavily fortified.
Maintained Structures
Two watchtowers are preserved in addition to a collection of exhibits showing the most impactful events in the hamlet’s chronicle. As we stroll, Robert Lebegern lists the rules: nobody could come within 5km of the border. Agricultural workers required special permission to care for their fields; the husband or wife could operate the agricultural equipment but under no circumstances the pair, in case they attempted to escape. Armed guards stood watch.
Larger Background
The border between Western Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and memorialised the greatest, but over twice as many persons (more than 300) died attempting to cross it in rural areas than in the big city. Robert Lebegern tells me that 95 percent of escape attempts were unsuccessful.
Hamlet Life
Most of Mödlareuth’s villagers were rural laborers or craftsmen, who accommodated to residing in the uncertain territory between 2 political systems by staying low-profile and tending to their farms. They did not supported the communist regime nor opposed it, Lebegern clarifies.
Visitors
For visitors, however, the settlement became a type of site of interest. About 15,000 came to visit every year, viewing tools in possession, to gawp – and then swiftly depart. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defense official.
25 years after merger, the TV show, a television program about a made-up hamlet like Mödlareuth, resulted in fresh interest.
Current Developments
The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a restaurant, shop, movie theater and large car park – is expected to