🔗 Share this article Major Trouble in ‘Miniature Berlin’: The Tiny Village Separated in Half by the Cold War Era A stream so low you hardly got your feet wet separated a settlement for in excess of four decades of time. Because of a chance of topography, the fifty inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a small village bordered by evergreen groves, fields and breathtaking views, found themselves at the heart of the Cold War tensions. They had the unfortunate circumstance to span Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Thuringia in the East, a boundary that was established first by a barrier and then by a partition. United States military personnel nicknamed it Mini Berlin. Preserving History Several months after their own division was torn down, and even before their country had reunified in 1990, a group of residents started memorialising their heritage. The project is close to reach completion: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the collapse of the German barrier, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will inaugurate. It was publicly inaugurated by the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the exhibition wasn’t quite ready. Addressing the locals who lived through the former times, Steinmeier said: “You were observers of an brutal separation, which ripped families into pieces and turned neighbors into strangers.” “You were observers of an cruel split, which tore relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into strangers.” Past Origins Right from its founding in 1810, the village straddled the Bavarian Kingdom and the Reuss Principality, a royal family most famous for assigning all its men the designation Heinrich and labeling them sequentially by birth. As Steinmeier informed the gathering, the quirk was never an obstacle in the way of the inhabitants gathering in the very same tavern, visiting the identical religious building and enrolling their kids to the very same school. Post-War Division Subsequently occurred the World War II. As soon as they appeared, the Soviet forces installed wooden posts by the creek. For a year they took over the whole village, creating their control center in a building on the western side, adorning it with a picture of Stalin and a Soviet emblem. The American soldiers convinced them to withdraw to the other side of the stream. For a time, residents could still jump across, though as controls became stricter they were forced to show identity papers, despite the fact that everyone understood who they were, and to return at night. Intensification of Frontier Measures Subsequently, in 1952, came metal barriers and the legal sealing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin half a decade before, a barrier was erected, with landmines, tank traps and guard posts. The residents could continue to observe each other by climbing slopes, but on the east side signaling and yelling were banned. A local woman was put on a Stasi monitoring list for replying “likewise” to a Bavarian villager who said her “happy new year”. Heritage Site Development It was related to me accounts like these tales by Robert Lebegern, the head of the institution, who has dedicated much of his working life developing it. Villagers were consulted at an early stage about how how long a section structure they wished to preserve. They opted for a section on the west fringe, close to where a local resident managed to escape in the dead of night with a scaling tool, after which the boundary was significantly reinforced. Preserved Structures Two guard towers are maintained alongside a series of tableaux depicting the most impactful moments in the village’s history. As we stroll, Lebergen lists the restrictions: nobody could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Rural residents had to obtain special permission to tend to their fields; the partner could use the agricultural equipment but never the pair, in case they sought to escape. Soldiers kept guard. Broader Perspective The boundary between Western Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran 1,400km, from the Baltic Sea in the north to this location in the south. Berlin is remembered and documented the most, but in excess of double the number individuals (more than 300) lost their lives trying to cross it in countryside regions than in the urban center. Lebegern informs me that 95 percent of escape attempts were unsuccessful. Community Life Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were agricultural workers or skilled workers, who adjusted to dwelling in the grey zone between a pair of political systems by avoiding attention and looking after their fields. They nor did they backed the communist regime nor resisted it, Lebegern clarifies. Tourism For visitors, however, the hamlet became a sort of destination. Approximately 15k visited each year, binoculars in their hands, to look – and then rapidly depart. In 1983, the American president, George Bush, was given a tour by the national security head. 25 years after merger, Tannbach, a broadcast production about a made-up village similar to Mödlareuth, caused new curiosity. Current Changes The opening of the modern exhibition center – with a cafe, boutique, cinema room and big car park – is expected to