Wirklich? Really?: Window Shutters

One of those images of Germany that really stuck in my mind - pre-German living expeirence, of course - was of those big Alpine houses with A-frame roofs and planters of flowers hanging from every colourfully shuttered window.   It's probably Heidi that did it to me, although if I'd only paid attention, I would have realized it took place in Switzerland.  Post-Germany, that image has been pretty much obliterated.  Only the shutters remain.

Windows in Germany are built differently.  They open two ways - tilted inward from a bottom hinge or swinging inwards like a door.  It all depends on how you turn the handle.  As someone who has broken at least one of these handle mechanisms (with the help of a torrential rainstorm, to be fair), I can say that they are not always particularly sturdy.  The window can come off the bottom hinge, or the handle can become disconnected from whatever ingenious clockwork-type mechanism engages the hinges.  To me they seem finicky.  Opening and closing them properly may be one of those skills you have to have learned as a child.  Whether it's to protect the flimsy windows or to protect the precious Ikea furniture inside from light damage or theft, the Germans have outfitted their windows with heavy duty shutters.

These shutters roll down from the top of the window to completely obfuscate all light going in or out.  They are controlled either by a strap from the inside that you can hoist up or down, or by a button that mechanically lowers and raises them. A less tactful visitor might refer to them as black-out shutters.  A very untactful visitor might ask if their hosts also have a panic room.

The sound of shutters rolling up or rolling down is surprisingly loud.  You can hear the individual plates of the shutter clattering against each other as they settle into place.  To me it always sounds like an admonishment, whether up or down: "Get up! Get up! The sun is out and you should be dressed and presentable to the pedestrians waiting for the U-Bahn outside your window!" or "Shut up! Go to bed!  You are making too much noise and I need to resort to going on lockdown to keep out the sound of your television blaring on about the vacation homes of Justin Bieber and Heidi Klum."