18/02/2026
In the Federal Republic of Germany, hardly any other authority has such a wide range of activities and handles as many essential tasks like customs. After the reuni-fication, 7,500 employees of the GDR customs administration were taken over by the Federal Customs Administration. In the anniversary year, around 48,000 customs officers are in service for all of us every day throughout Germany.
The range of tasks goes far beyond the monitoring of cross-border trade in goods: German customs officers secure the tax revenue of the state they are committed to the protection of all consumers, act against cross-border organised crime and con-stantly promote social justice and the economy in Germany - also through their fight against undeclared work and illegal employment. The protection of the environment and species is also one of the main activities of customs.
The history of customs itself goes back to antiquity more than 2,000 years ago. The last 75 years in Germany and the European Union illustrate how the customs admin-istration has accepted and mastered new challenges. With the exhibition, the German Customs Museum gives an insight into these 75 years as well as into the activi-ties of German customs officers on water and land.
The exhibition was conceived as a self-explanatory traveling exhibition. 8 October 2025, the exhibition was opened in the “Postblock” of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, it is currently on display at “The headquarters of the Education and Science Center of the Federal Finance Administration” in Münster, before traveling to Cologne in March and Potsdam in June. Further exhibition venues will follow.
