In 1949 as a compensation for WWII damages, the Netherlands annexed the German town of Elten (and a few other villages). An agreement was made they were to be returned (or better sold back) to Germany again as of August 1, 1963.
On July, 1963 hundreds of lorries were parked in Elten, mainly packed with butter and coffee. Items that were a lot more expensive in Germany than in the Netherlands.
At midnight, the Dutch town of Elten became German again. Without paying a single penny on duties, the goods in the lorries switched from countries – legally.
The profit for the companies (or loss for the government) was 50 to 60 million guilders (27 million Euro).
There were so many lorries in Elten, the German government had to transfer an additional 250.000 German Marks to the town to repair the streets in the aftermath.
