Mödlareuth open-air museum

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Mödlareuth open-air museum
Death strip
The short watchtower of the type BT-11 stood at the paper mill in Blankenstein

The Mödlareuth open-air museum is an open-air museum in the town of Mödlareuth , which was once divided by the inner-German border . The museum includes a section of the actual border section. In its exhibition rooms, the museum gives an overview of the border situation and the fate of separated families and people who tried to flee across the border. Vehicles from the border authorities on both sides are on display. In addition to the actual border fortifications, the open-air area shows examples of other equipment and fortifications that should prevent the border from being overcome in the various construction phases.

In 2015 the museum counted more than 90,000 visitors.

concept

The objective of the Mödlareuth Museum is the holistic representation of the history of the division of Germany . The time frame begins in 1944/45 with the establishment of the occupation zones and the end of World War II and ends with the Peaceful Revolution in 1989 and (re) unification in 1990 . The main focus is on the subject areas of barriers, border surveillance organs, forced resettlement, border crossing points , illegal border crossings / flight , economic / traffic effects, everyday life at the border as well as peaceful revolution and (re) unification.

Foundation phase

During the time of divided Germany, the small town of Mödlareuth was cut through by the inner-German border with border systems and a wall. As a symbol of separation, the place was also called "Little Berlin". After the border was opened on June 17, 1990, most of Mödlareuther's citizens wanted to tear down the entire 700-meter-long wall as quickly as possible. But the mayor of Töpen, Arnold Friedrich , suggested that the wall in the area of ​​the former mill be kept around 200 meters long, as well as the observation tower for posterity. In addition, Friedrich suggested that further parts of the border security systems be brought from other parts of the country to Mödlareuth in order to be able to present an overview of all security measures of the communist regime . As a result, an unusually short watchtower of the type BT-11 came from Blankenstein .

State minister Georg von Waldenfels and member of the state parliament Klaus Kopka , both from Hof , provided political support to implement Friedrich's proposal with the help of the Bavarian state government . The documentary filmmaker Arndt Schaffner from Münchberg is one of the initiators of the museum's founding alongside Arnold Friedrich. The first construction work was carried out by the Mödlareuth Museum working group immediately after the border was opened; on September 3, 1990, the German-German Museum Mödlareuth e. V. founded. Schaffner was first chairman of the association and then managing director. In 1999 he was honored with the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon .

See also

Web links

Commons : Mödlareuth open-air museum  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Museum Mödlareuth is expanded in: Nordbayerischer Kurier from April 25, 2016, p. 4
  2. ↑ http://moedlareuth.de/gedenkstaette.html
  3. ↑ Peter Engelbrecht : At that time on the border. The fall of the wall in Upper Franconia . Späthling, Weißenstadt 2014, ISBN 978-3-942668-21-7 , pp. 56 .
  4. ↑ Hofer Anzeiger, Whole Mödlareuth a museum? Von Waldenfels, Kopka support the project of the Mayor of Töpen, Friedrich , July 1990

Coordinates: 50 ° 24 '53.2 "  N , 11 ° 53' 0.2"  E