Tax & Customs Museum, National taxation museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The Tax & Customs Museum is a museum in Rotterdam that focuses on taxation and customs matters. It displays objects from different periods such as old measuring instruments, uniforms, and documents that explain how people paid taxes in the past and how border controls worked.
The museum was founded in 1937 as a training facility for the National Tax Authority and initially focused on educating officials. Over time it grew into a place that documents the history of taxation and border control across several centuries.
You can see how customs officers worked in daily practice and what kinds of items were seized over the centuries. The displays show the real side of border control and how this work shaped the lives of ordinary people.
Plan to spend several hours visiting since there is plenty to see and read. It makes sense to start with the older exhibits and work your way to the newer sections to better understand how this work developed over time.
A special collection displays real items that smugglers tried to bring across borders, offering a rare look at the tactics of customs officers. These objects tell hidden stories of people who tried to evade official rules.
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