Serious Trouble in ‘Little Berlin’: This Tiny Village Divided in Two by the Cold War

An creek so low you scarcely got your ankles wet split a village for in excess of four decades. By an accident of landscape, the 50 residents of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by pine forests, fields and spectacular vistas, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War tensions. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span the Bavarian region, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a border that was established first by a enclosure and then by a partition. United States military personnel called it Little Berlin.

Commemorating History

Several months after their own wall was torn down, and even before their nation had reunified in 1990, a collection of residents began commemorating their history. The effort is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the demolition of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was publicly inaugurated by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display wasn’t quite finished. Telling the villagers who endured the past era, Steinmeier remarked: “You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which tore relatives asunder and turned neighbours into strangers.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel separation, which tore relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

Bygone Context

Starting at its establishment in 1810, the community cut across the Bavarian Kingdom and the Princely State of Reuss, a royal family best known for assigning all its male descendants the name Heinrich and labeling them in order by birth. As Steinmeier informed the crowd, the oddity was never an obstacle in the manner of the inhabitants gathering in the same tavern, attending the same religious building and placing their children to the same school.

Following WWII Separation

Subsequently occurred the second world war. As soon as they appeared, the Russian troops put up wood stakes by the stream. For a annual period they seized the whole village, establishing their headquarters in a house on the western side, decorating it with a picture of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers urged them to withdraw to the other side of the brook. For a period, residents could still hop over, though as restrictions became stricter they were forced to present identity papers, although everyone understood who they were, and to come back at after dark.

Escalation of Frontier Controls

Then, in 1952, came wire fencing and the legal sealing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a barrier was constructed, with explosives, anti-tank obstacles and guard posts. The villagers could still observe each other by climbing slopes, but on the eastern side waving and yelling were prohibited. A female resident was placed on a East German secret police monitoring list for answering “back at you” to a western resident who wished her “prosperous new year”.

Heritage Site Development

I heard stories like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the museum’s director, who has devoted a significant portion of his occupational time creating it. Villagers were consulted early on about how how long a section wall they desired to keep. They chose a portion on the western edge, close to where a villager was able to flee in the darkest hours with a scaling tool, subsequently the frontier was significantly fortified.

Preserved Structures

Two observation towers are preserved in addition to a set of tableaux showing the most impactful moments in the community’s chronicle. As we walk, Robert Lebegern lists the restrictions: not a single person could get closer than 5km of the border. Agricultural workers required particular approval to look after their fields; the partner could operate the combine harvester but never the pair, in case they tried to flee. Armed guards kept guard.

Broader Context

The frontier between the Federal Republic and the GDR stretched nearly 900 miles, from the Baltic coast in the northern part to here in the south. Berlin is remembered and documented the most, but over twice as many individuals (more than 300) died seeking to pass over it in countryside regions than in the big city. Robert Lebegern reminds me that 95 percent of escape attempts were unsuccessful.

Village Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s residents were rural laborers or skilled workers, who adapted to dwelling in the ambiguous area between two belief systems by staying low-profile and caring for their farms. They neither supported the socialist government nor opposed it, the director clarifies.

Tourism

For visitors, however, the village became a kind of site of interest. About 15k came to visit every year, binoculars in their hands, to gawp – and then swiftly leave. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty five years after reunification, the TV show, a TV series about a imaginary community like Mödlareuth, caused new interest.

Modern Changes

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, store, movie theater and large parking lot – is expected to