Swiss Customs Museum

The Swiss Customs Museum is a museum in Cantine di Gandria on Lake Lugano, which mediates the role of customs authorities and the work of the border guards. The museum is operated by the Federal Customs Administration and is part of the Swiss National Museum.

Building and location

The Customs Museum is housed in a former border guard, which was used from 1856 to 1921 and should tackle the smuggling across the nearby Italian-Swiss border. The building is located on the shores of Lake Lugano, opposite the village of Gandria and is only accessible by boat.

Formation

The collection of the customs museum goes back to the Border Patrol officer Angelo Gianola, the objects kept out of his professional life in the liberated Grenzwachtposten. 1943 was the Customs Museum, since 1970, it is supported by the Swiss National Museum.

Exhibition

The exhibition shows one hand, the work and life in a border guard of the 19th and 20th centuries. On the other hand, the tasks of the modern border protection (prevention of smuggling, drug enforcement, detection of piracy, ensuring the protection of species, Precious Metals Control, verification of travel documents ) will be taught. Here, the importation of duty-unpaid and illegal goods is especially a lot of space, so the museum is colloquially referred to as " smuggling museum." The exhibition has various interactive elements and is also suitable for children.