In houses in Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, you can see a type of window covering uncommon in American domestic situations: Roller shutters. Called rollla¨den in German and tapparelle in Italian, they resemble the rolldown gates used to cover storefronts in American cities.
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
Image: Von XDAS123, CC BY-SA 4.0
Older versions of these shutters were made out of wood, but newer versions are metal or PVC. When retracted, the roll sits inside a housing that can be mounted either inside or outside of the window. The shutters ride inside of tamper-proof tracks on either side of the window and can be operated manually, using a strap attached to a hidden pulley, or can be automated.
When almost fully closed, they admit pinpricks of light into the room; but closing them that final 5% closes even those apertures, allowing you to completely black out the room in seconds.
Here’s a demonstration from Germany:
If you’re curious about their construction and installation, in this video from Italy a repairperson pulls one apart, allowing you to see the various components:
I imagine these haven’t made inroads in America due to cost, and probably the skill required to install them; in Germany, their installation and maintenance is strictly regulated by a guild.
Also See:
The Superiority of the European Window Design
Source: core77