The former Main Customs Office of Munich (German: Hauptzollamt München) is a historic building complex located at Landsberger Straße 122-132 in the Schwanthalerhöhe district of Munich. Its construction dates back to 1912, and it served as the Munich Main Customs Office I until 2004 and later housed various departments of the Federal Customs Administration. The architecture of the buildings combines elements of late Art Nouveau and reform architecture.Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege It is renowned as an exemplary representation of the "monumental architecture of the Prince Regent period" showcasing the grandeur and independence of the Bavarian kingdom.Läpke 1995, pp. 111 The massive former warehouse is particularly striking, stretching 180 meters long and crowned by a glass dome. Towering at a height of 45 meters, the dome resembles a crystalline structure that emerges from the center of the building.Bernd Raschert: Instandsetzung des Hauptzollamts München-West. In: Die Mappe – Deutsche Malerzeitschrift, Ausgabe 7/87, pp. 9

Due to its location next to the Donnersbergerbrücke between Landsberger Straße and the railroad tracks, the building is very present in the cityscape and can be seen from the Mittlerer Ring on the Donnersbergerbrücke as well as from all trains entering or leaving Munich Central Station.

History

Since 1807, Bavaria had a well-organized financial administration that included a General-Zoll- und Maut-Direktion (General Customs and Toll Directorate).Walter Wilhelm: Maut – Zoll 1834–1984, Oberfinanzdirektion München 1984, pp. 9 In 1819, the royal authorities were reorganized under the 1818 constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria under Maximilian von Montgelas, and a tripartite structure was established consisting of the Direktion (Directorate), Hauptzollämtern (Main Customs Offices), and subordinate Zollämtern I. und II (Customs Offices I and II).Walter Wilhelm: Maut – Zoll 1834–1984, Oberfinanzdirektion München 1984, pp. 22 As the system evolved, in 1874, the main customs office in Munich moved to a building designed by Friedrich Bürklein on Bayerstraße near Munich's main train station. Subsequently, in 1880, the customs and toll directorate was integrated into the new Royal General Directorate for Customs and Indirect Taxes, bringing tax offices under the purview of the main customs offices. Later 1901, a second main customs office was established in Haidhausen, at the Munich East station to cover the eastern part of Munich up to the district court of Schwaben.Münchener Jahrbuch 1901, Carl Gerber, München 1901, pp, 400 and 448

As long-distance trade flourished and a new customs law was introduced in 1906, the existing Main Customs Office I could no longer meet the increasing demands. The volume of goods passing through customs experienced significant growth. In the beginning, there were 24,000 colli of dry goods and 3,560 colli of liquid goods. However, by 1911, sales had soared to 48,000 packages of dry goods and 7,000 packages of liquid goods.Zollanlagen, Industriebau 1914, pp. 154 An expansion on the existing site was not feasible, prompting the government to commission a new building for the Munich I Main Customs Office in 1908. The site chosen was the former forestry timber yard of the Royal Bavarian Forestry Administration, located further west on Landsberger Strasse, an extension of Bayerstraße out of town. This required the purchase and demolition of nine private houses along Landsberger Strasse. Due to the relocation of the Technical Examination and Training Institute of the Customs Administration, previously situated alongside the Royal General Directorate for Customs and Indirect Taxes in the Altes Hof, it became essential to integrate the institute into the new building. As the new location was situated on the outskirts of the city, service apartments were also provided to accommodate the staff.Denkmäler in Bayern, München-Südwest, Halbband 2 pp. 375–377

Design and construction

The building was designed by Hugo Kaiser, a royal government and building assessor. Together with three other officials from the building administration, he conducted a study trip to modern customs buildings, the free port of Hamburg, and various industrial buildings that could serve as potential models.Läpke 1995, pp. 112 Based on their findings, the plans were developed with a focus on creating a spacious layout. The estimated space requirement was increased by one-third as a reserve for the future and was incorporated into the building’s specifications. The design and model were approved by Prince Regent Luitpold in 1908. Construction of the complex took place from 1909 to 1912, under the supervision of Kaiser, while the royal ministerial councilor Gustav Freiherr von Schacky auf Königsfeld from the Ministry of Finance oversaw the construction process.Zollneubauten, Zentralblatt 1912, Ausgabe 84, pp. 542–544 On July 1, 1912, the new main customs office was inaugurated by Prince Ludwig on behalf of his father, who was already 91 years old at the time.Franke-Fuchs 2012, pp. 13 The previous location of the customs office was taken over by the Royal Bavarian State Railways.

The warehouse and administration buildings were built using a reinforced concrete skeleton, making them one of the pioneering examples of such large-scale reinforced concrete structures in Europe.Bernd Raschert: Instandsetzung des Hauptzollamts München-West. In: Die Mappe, Deutsche Malerzeitschrift, Ausgabe 7/1987, pp. 9–12. Prominent construction companies from across southern Germany were commissioned for the construction work.Zollanlagen. In: Der Industriebau, Jahrgang 1914, pp. 172. The Munich-based firm Gebr. Rank and Heilmann & Littmann were responsible for the execution of the reinforced concrete structures, while the wrought iron work was carried out by F. F. Kustermann. The heating system was supplied by Eisenwerke Kaiserslautern, cranes were sourced from the Nuremberg machine factory Wilhelm Spaeth and the Würzburg company Georg Noell & Co, and the pneumatic tube system was created by Alois Zettler. Siemens-Schuckertwerke provided various other technical installations for the building. The total cost of the Main Customs Office amounted to 1,760,000 marks for the land and 8,170,500 marks for the buildings. This figure also includes the construction expenses of 485,000 marks for the customs facilities at Munich South Station, which were built to facilitate customs clearance for fruit and vegetables at the Munich wholesale market hall. Additionally, the cost encompasses the land and buildings for the new Forsthof in Haidhaus.Zollanlagen. In: Der Industriebau, Jahrgang 1914, pp. 171.

Usage During the early years of the Main Customs Office, the storage space was not fully utilized, resulting in parts of the building being rented out to local companies in Munich. However, during World War I, a significant portion of the warehouse, counter halls, and revision halls were converted into an auxiliary hospital.Das Reservelazarett D im Hauptzollamtsgebäude an der Landsbergerstrasse. In: Feldärztliche Beilage zur Münchner Medizinischen Wochenschrift, 15. Dezember 1914, pp. 2395 f. In 1919, the Hauptzollamt München III (Munich Main Customs Office III) was established in the Bürkleinbau on Bayerstraße. As a result, Hauptzollamt München I (Munich Main Customs Office I) was only responsible for customs clearance in Munich, excluding the Ostbahnhof station, while the other two Hauptzollämter took charge of subordinate customs offices, customs inspectorates, tax offices, and tax posts.Münchener Jahrbuch 1919, Carl Gerber, München 1919, pp. 359, 422 The main customs office in Munich also served as an auxiliary customs office.

During World War II, the Wehrmacht (armed forces) utilized a quarter of the warehouse space as a depot. The building suffered partial damage from demolition bombs during air raids and was also looted by the Munich population the night before the U.S. Army arrived. After the war, the Americans used approximately two-thirds of the warehouse as a PX depot, making alterations that resulted in the loss of many artistic and structural details. Customs operations continued in the remaining parts of the building. In 1963, ownership of the building was transferred from the Free State of Bavaria to the Federal Finance Administration. In 1969, the U.S. Army vacated the premises, and the entire facility once again came under German administration.

Since 1976, the Main Customs Office has been a listed building. Starting in 1977, the Munich Finance Building Office I initiated a sectional renovation and reconstruction project, costing approximately 28 million German marks, with most of the work completed by the building's 75th anniversary in 1987. Between 1994 and 2002, the three former main customs offices in Munich (West, Central, and Airport) were merged.Süddeutsche Zeitung: Ein Prachtbau für Zöllner, 27. Juni 2012, pp. R5 By 2007, the office management and most departments had gradually relocated to the Sophienstraße headquarters at the Old Botanical Garden. Customs clearance at Landsberger Strasse ceased, with only mail items being processed towards the end. The vacated rooms were subsequently utilized by the Customs Investigation Department, the Traffic Routes Control Unit, and, in 2004, the Financial Control for Clandestine Employment, resulting in restricted public access to the building for security reasons.

The Main Customs Office has also served as a filming location for television productions and hosted various events. In 1999, Christian Dior presented its fall/winter collection in the counter hall, and the auditing room was transformed into a dance studio for the ZDF Christmas series Anna. The building was featured significantly in two episodes of Die Verbrechen des Professor Capellari, one episode of Siska, and the miniseries Der Wunschbaum.Franke-Fuchs 2012, pp. 39 Until 1998, the main customs office housed the collection of so-called German art from the National Socialist era and looted art. The Munich Chief Finance Office was responsible for managing these artworks under the administration of the federal government. The art collection comprised works acquired from state collections during the Third Reich or unlawfully gathered from various locations across Europe, which were subsequently cataloged by the Americans at the Central Collecting Point after the war. Presently, the fifth floor of the warehouse is rented to the Deutsches Museum, which has relocated parts of its depot to the premises. Since 2015, the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments has also utilized a section of the Main Customs Office as a depot for archaeological finds.

The Technical Examination and Training Institute underwent extensive renovation from 2011 to 2014 after its laboratories were relocated to a new building near Munich Airport.Franke-Fuchs 2012, pp. 36 f. Subsequently, the offices were occupied by customs service offices and the Federal Real Estate Agency. The attached residential buildings are rented out by the Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben, primarily to federal officials.

Structures