1,935 kilometers of border in a museum

Room 4

It may seem cosy, but in reality, life here was anything but comfortable. The mattress filled with maize leaves attracted lice and mice. The wind blew through the cracks in the damp walls. Life at remote border posts was hard and monotonous for the often young and single men.

A touch of adventure and many surprises are still part of daily life at customs today. Anyone who asks FOCBS employees about their work invariably gets a similar answer: “I never know what to expect when I get to work. Every day is different; my tasks are many and varied. When I go home at the end of the day, I know that I have made my contribution to keeping Switzerland safe.”

In 1932, the Ticino police were searching for mysterious chicken thieves. After unsuccessful searches, the German shepherd dog Astor was brought in to help the team. The dog hurried to the slopes of the Serpiano, sniffed around and dug up 60 chickens which a fox had hidden in the night. When the dog died, its owner unceremoniously transformed it into a bedside rug.

Customs employees' gut feeling and the fine nose of their dogs still play an important role in drug searches. Highly specialised scanners, smartphone apps, camera systems and increasingly precise risk analyses also play an important role.