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Major construction project in Giessen: Customs moves into the mountain barracks!
Construction work on the Giessen main customs office will begin in October 2025. The goal: new office space for 300 employees by 2029.
Major construction project in Giessen: Customs moves into the mountain barracks!
The wheels never stand still in Gießen, and the construction sites are already planning their next big project. From October 2025, the main customs office on Licher Straße will be active, as the former mountain barracks there will be converted into the new center for customs administration. According to the Giessen General Construction work will officially begin with the groundbreaking ceremony on September 30, 2025.
The project, which is scheduled to last until April 2029, envisages the creation of a modern workplace for around 300 employees. Currently, 480 employees of the main customs office are spread across various locations, which makes it urgently necessary to consolidate them into one central location.
Planned construction work and renovations
A large part of the project includes the demolition of three old buildings, including a riding arena and garages, before construction of a new office building and a garage complex begins in the hot phase of civil engineering work in summer 2026. All new buildings should fit into the existing architecture of the surrounding area. This undertaking is the responsibility of the Hesse State Office for Construction and Real Estate (LBIH).
But the customs authorities are not only the focus of construction projects, but also of investigations that have recently begun. On January 29, 2025, the Giessen main customs office carried out extensive measures against illegal employment in the construction industry under the code name “Honeypot”. Over 300 emergency services searched 21 residential and business premises in Hesse, Bavaria and Bremen.
Strike against illegal employment
In this context, three people – two Bosnians and one German – were arrested in Kassel. Those affected, aged 55 to 66, are suspected of being behind the scenes of commercial fraud and the smuggling of foreign workers. According to information from the Press portal The construction workers went to Germany under false pretenses after being registered via Slovenian “letterbox companies”.
The investigations are aimed at massive evasion of taxes and social security contributions; some reports estimate the total damage at around 12 million euros. Evidence in the form of computers and cell phones was seized, and nine construction workers who were in Germany on fake work visas were handed over to the immigration authorities. The Kassel public prosecutor's office has also already intervened to further advance the investigation.
The measures continue and it remains to be seen what further developments will emerge in this complex. A harmonious start to construction on Licher Straße and the clarification of grievances in the construction – two major issues that will concern Gießen in the coming years.
How the situation around customs and construction sites develops remains exciting. But one thing is certain: pouring is a good way to do more than just build new walls right now.