Major Problems in ‘Little Berlin’: The Minuscule Settlement Separated in Two by the Cold War Period

An stream so narrow you barely got your ankles wet split a village for over four decades. Because of a chance of geography, the half a hundred inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a tiny settlement bordered by evergreen groves, meadows and breathtaking views, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the unfortunate circumstance to straddle Bavaria, in Western Germany, and the Thuringian region in the Soviet sector, a frontier that was demarcated first by a barrier and then by a wall. United States military personnel dubbed it Little Berlin.

Commemorating Historical Events

Several months after their own barrier was torn down, and before their state had unified again in 1990, a assembly of villagers set about documenting their past. The work is close to come to fruition: on 9 November, the 36th commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was officially inaugurated by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in early October, but the display was not entirely finished. Addressing the villagers who endured the old days, Steinmeier remarked: “You were observers of an inhuman separation, which ripped families apart and turned local residents into aliens.”

“You were bystanders of an cruel division, which pulled relatives into pieces and turned neighbours into strangers.”

Historical Context

Even at its establishment in 1810, the community spanned the Royal Bavaria and the Reuss Principality, a royal family most famous for giving all its male descendants the name Heinrich and counting them sequentially by date of birth. As Steinmeier related to the gathering, the oddity never stood in the way of the residents drinking in the same pub, attending the same place of worship and enrolling their young ones to the same learning center.

Following WWII Split

Then came the second world war. The moment they came, the Soviet forces installed timber poles by the brook. For a twelve months they seized the whole village, setting up their control center in a dwelling on the Bavarian side, adorning it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The US forces urged them to pull back back over the creek. For a period, residents could still jump across, though as controls tightened they were obliged to display ID, despite the fact that all understood who they were, and to return at night.

Escalation of Border Restrictions

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the legal closing of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a barrier was constructed, with landmines, tank traps and watchtowers. The residents could still view each other by ascending slopes, but on the eastern side gesturing and shouting were banned. One woman was put on a GDR intelligence surveillance list for replying “back at you” to a western villager who wished her “prosperous new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

I heard accounts including these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has devoted a large part of his working life developing it. Locals were consulted early on about how much wall they wished to maintain. They opted for a portion on the west edge, adjacent to where a local resident succeeded to flee in the dead of night with a scaling tool, after which the boundary was substantially reinforced.

Conserved Buildings

2 watchtowers are conserved in addition to a series of tableaux illustrating the most impactful moments in the village’s past. As we walk, Robert Lebegern details the rules: not a single person could get closer than 5km of the boundary. Agricultural workers required particular approval to care for their produce; the partner could use the combine harvester but not the pair, lest they sought to make a run for it. Armed guards kept guard.

Larger Background

The boundary between Western Germany and the East Germany extended 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the northern part to this location in the southern region. Berlin is remembered and documented the greatest, but over two times more individuals (well over 300) lost their lives attempting to traverse it in countryside regions than in the metropolis. Robert Lebegern tells me that 95% of attempts to flee were unsuccessful.

Village Existence

Most of Mödlareuth’s residents were rural laborers or skilled workers, who adjusted to residing in the uncertain territory between a pair of ideological spheres by keeping their heads down and tending to their farms. They nor did they endorsed the socialist government nor resisted it, the director clarifies.

Visitors

For visitors, however, the settlement became a kind of pilgrimage. Approximately fifteen thousand came to visit every year, viewing tools in hand, to look – and then rapidly go away. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was guided by the German defense official.

Twenty five years after reunification, the TV show, a TV series about a fictional community like Mödlareuth, resulted in renewed attention.

Current Evolutions

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, shop, movie theater and big car park – is expected to