"Switzerland was famous for its banking secrets, but Jungholz has the same history," said Hoek, who saw his guesthouse booked almost every night. "Bagmen would arrive with suitcases handcuffed to their wrists, enter their room, lock the door and never leave until the banks opened. It happened all the time." Much has changed since then. The EU demanded greater levels of transparency, and cross-border tax evasion was placed under greater scrutiny in 2014, putting an end to Jungholz's status as an "offshore" capital. In turn, the billions invested in Jungholz vanished almost overnight and the banking exodus began. Now, the investors are gone, tourism has filled the void and the banks have been repurposed. One is a self-catering apartment block, while another hosts a permanent art exhibition, with a mural painted by Thierry Noir, the first artist to paint the Berlin Wall in the 1980s. The last building is still for sale.
