The Customs Museum’s special exhibition “A line in the middle of the forest – Customs and the Finnish–Russian border since 1944” explores the history of Finland’s eastern border from the perspective of Finnish Customs.
The eastern border has been a fundamental issue shaping Finland’s fate throughout its history as an independent nation. The border has presented both threats and opportunities. The border, which is over 1,300 km long, was established in its current form in 1944. At first, the border between Finland and the Soviet Union was relatively quiet, but traffic increased in the decades that followed. During the period of Russia, it eventually reached enormous proportions in the 2000s and the early 2010s. After that came a new turning point, which led to the closure of the border. What has happened on Finland’s eastern border in the past 80 years?
Finnish Customs has been operating on the eastern border throughout the whole period. After the Second World War, Finland had to pay war reparations to the Soviet Union. Initially, Customs’ main task was to supervise the cross-border transport of these reparations. Later, the work involved overseeing duty-free trade between Finland and the Soviet Union and tourism across the border.
The collapse of the Soviet Union brought a whole new kind of passenger and goods traffic to the eastern border. At its peak, up to a third of the goods imported into Russia passed through Finland. The result was massive congestion. There was also a great deal of customs-related criminal activity at the eastern border. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine also cast its shadow over Finland’s eastern border in the 2010s and 2020s, leading ultimately to the closure of the border to traffic.
The exhibition focuses on the period from 1944 to the present day. On display are details and major turning points from the recent history of the eastern border, ranging from war reparations and vodka-fuelled tourism to “Red Market Squares,” chaotic lorry cavalcades and asylum seekers on bicycles. The exhibition features many items on loan from various museum collections.
The thematic exhibition will be open during the summers of 2026 and 2027. Come and visit the exhibition!
