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.
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