Big Trouble in ‘Miniature Berlin’: The Minuscule Hamlet Divided in Half by the Cold War Period

An stream so narrow you hardly got your feet wet separated a community for more than four decades. By an accident of geography, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a hamlet bordered by coniferous woods, meadows and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the center of the Cold War conflict. They had the misfortune to span the Bavarian region, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the East, a border that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a barricade. United States military personnel called it Mini Berlin.

Preserving the Past

Months after their own barrier was opened, and even before their country had reunified in 1990, a collection of residents began commemorating their history. The project is close to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th anniversary of the collapse of the German barrier, the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum Mödlareuth will open. It was publicly launched by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the exhibition was not completely prepared. Addressing the villagers who endured the old days, Steinmeier stated: “You were bystanders of an inhuman separation, which tore relatives apart and turned local residents into strangers.”

“You were observers of an cruel separation, which ripped households apart and turned neighbours into strangers.”

Historical Origins

Starting at its creation in 1810, the community spanned the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a princely house most renowned for assigning all its male members the designation Heinrich and labeling them in order by birth order. As Steinmeier told the crowd, the quirk did not stand in the way of the locals socializing in the same inn, attending the same place of worship and enrolling their children to the same learning center.

Following WWII Division

Next arrived the second world war. Immediately after they appeared, the Soviet forces installed timber poles by the stream. For a year they seized the complete hamlet, setting up their headquarters in a dwelling on the Bavarian territory side, adorning it with a image of Stalin and a communist symbol. The American soldiers persuaded them to retreat back over the stream. For a time, residents could still cross over, though as controls increased they were obliged to present identification, although all understood who they were, and to come back at after dark.

Escalation of Border Controls

Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the formal shutting of the boundary. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a concrete structure was constructed, with landmines, tank traps and guard posts. The locals could continue to see each other by ascending slopes, but on the Soviet side gesturing and shouting were forbidden. A female resident was placed on a East German secret police surveillance list for replying “same to you” to a western resident who said her “good new year”.

Museum Development

It was related to me narratives such as these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated much of his working life developing it. Villagers were polled early on about how how long a section structure they wanted to maintain. They selected a portion on the Bavarian edge, near where one of their own managed to escape in the dead of night with a climbing device, after which the frontier was significantly fortified.

Conserved Structures

2 watchtowers are maintained alongside a set of tableaux showing the most significant dates in the community’s history. As we move, Robert Lebegern lists the rules: not a single person could get closer than 5km of the border. Rural residents had to obtain specific authorization to tend to their crops; the partner could operate the combine harvester but never both, in case they tried to make a run for it. Armed guards stood watch.

Wider Background

The border between the Federal Republic and the East Germany ran 1,400 kilometers, from the Baltic Sea in the northern part to this location in the south. Berlin is commemorated and honored the most, but in excess of two times more persons (more than 300) lost their lives trying to pass over it in rural areas than in the urban center. Lebegern informs me that almost all of escape attempts failed.

Hamlet Daily Living

The majority of Mödlareuth’s locals were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adjusted to living in the uncertain territory between 2 political systems by staying low-profile and caring for their land. They neither supported the communist regime nor fought it, Lebegern states.

Visitors

For visitors, however, the settlement became a type of pilgrimage. Approximately fifteen thousand came to see every year, viewing tools in hand, to gawp – and then quickly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was given a tour by the national security head.

Twenty five years after reunification, the TV show, a TV series about a fictional village similar to Mödlareuth, caused fresh interest.

Present-Day Developments

The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, boutique, cinema room and big car park – is likely to