Mödlareuth on foot

Hirschberg and Mödlareuth tell, in a distinctive way, of a landscape that was shaped by borders for a long time and is opening up again today. Hirschberg was first mentioned in a document in 1296 and developed over the centuries into a small town on the Saale. The castle on the Lohberg, the historic churches and the extensive forests of the Franconian Forest bear witness to this history. At the same time, the leather industry shaped the town’s economic life until 1992.

During the Cold War, the inner-German border also determined everyday life in Hirschberg. The town lay within the GDR border zone, and freedom of movement and contact with the West were severely restricted. Barriers, controls and the proximity of the border shaped people’s lives. At the same time, the transit route between Bavaria and West Berlin passed through Hirschberg. The leather factory, one of the region’s most important employers, stood directly on the border. Today, Hirschberg’s rocks, the Haag, the Wenzelshöhle cave and the paths along the Saale invite visitors to rediscover the landscape.

Only a few kilometres away, the division of Germany became particularly tangible in Mödlareuth. The Tannbach, once a barely noticed administrative boundary, became the border between two political systems after 1945. From 1952 onwards, fences, barbed wire and eventually a 700-metre concrete barrier separated the village’s residents. Families, neighbours and long-established connections were torn apart, and Mödlareuth became a symbol of Germany’s division as ‘Little Berlin’.

Today, the two places are connected by a different story: the story of opening up. The border in Mödlareuth also fell in 1989, and a large part of the wall was dismantled in 1990. What once divided is now a place of remembrance and shared experience. The Saale, which flows through Hirschberg and the region, also symbolises this change: for decades it formed part of the border landscape, and today it is once again a connecting element within a diverse cultural landscape.

‘A place opens up’ therefore means more than opening a door. It means overcoming borders, making history visible and looking towards a landscape that is connected once again. Between the Schlossfelsen and the Saale valley, between Hirschberg and Mödlareuth, visitors can experience how a once-divided border area has become a shared space for nature, history and encounters.