- The expansion of the museum in Little Berlin is progressing
Extension of the German-German Museum in the village of Mödlareuth at the Bavarian-Thuringian border is underway. The shell and timber construction works on the new museum building are almost complete, said a spokesperson for Hof district office. Currently, roofing and sanitary work is being carried out, and HVAC and electrical systems are being installed, along with water and sewage pipes.
The new building is the second phase of the museum's expansion, which was once the border between the Federal Republic and the GDR. The redesign of the outdoor area was completed in 2023. "The construction work is still on schedule, so we expect an opening next year," said the spokesperson for the district authority.
Memorial to Division
The Mödlareuth Museum is a memorial to the division of Germany after World War II. The former border ran right through the small village, which was divided by a wall, earning it international fame as "Little Berlin." The village belongs partly to the municipality of Töpen in Hof district and partly to the town of Gefell in Saale-Orla district. The museum was founded in 1990 shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The new building is urgently needed as visitor numbers to the German-German Museum in Mödlareuth have increased significantly in recent years, said the spokesperson for Hof district office: "Currently, the museum attracts between 70,000 and 90,000 visitors a year from all over the world. In the early days, we expected around 20,000 visitors a year."
The new building will add an additional 500 square meters of permanent exhibition space, along with further rooms for visitor services and temporary exhibitions. It will also house the museum's extensive archive material.
Total Costs of 22 Million Euros
"Mödlareuth is a place of national importance, and we want to do justice to that with these measures and give the museum an even stronger profile," said Hof's district administrator Oliver Bär (CSU) about the museum's expansion.
The total construction costs are estimated at 22 million euros. The federal government and the Free State of Bavaria have each approved grants of 5.6 million euros, while the Free State of Thuringia has contributed 800,000 euros for the outdoor area on the Thuringian side. The Upper Franconia Foundation is supporting the expansion with a total of 4.2 million euros, and the Bavarian State Foundation is contributing a further 500,000 euros.
The new museum building in Mödlareuth, when completed, will serve as a permanent tribute to the division of Germany, with a section dedicated as a ['Memorial to Division']. This new addition to the German-German Museum aims to accommodate the increase in visitor numbers, which have grown from the initial 20,000 to currently between 70,000 and 90,000 annually.
