Guys, this doesn’t exist only in Germany.
source: I live in Eastern Europe and we have such superior window design.
Same, this is the default in Croatia
Können Sie gültige Ausfuhrdokumente für besagte Fenster vorweisen?
Lustig aber fick nazis
Undeniably the best window design I have ever come across.
The only thing typically missing from these windows, are a hook or latch to prevent the windows from repeatedly opening and shutting when its windy
Don’t forget the mode where it’s anchored only in one corner and you freak out because you feel it will fall out any moment despite you know it won’t
Wait what? IS THIS A MODE AND NOT ME MESSING UP??
I feel like it’s a “can survive, but please fix quickly” kinda scenario.
I have no doubt the mechanism can support it. But used regularly will likely break something (where the entire fucking window falls into your room)Yeah! It’s the “you messed up mode”.
It’s one of the things everyone experiences but no one talks about
I experienced so many heart attacks for that damn thing and now i discover it was just one of the modes 😭
I’m still not convinced it’s an actual mode and not user error, that everyone hides under the rug by frantically pushing the window close somehow
My father was a sales & marketing executive for a window company in Germany. You can prepare for a long rant whenever he sees “those dreadful sliding windows” in a TV show from the US or Great Britain. Like every time. 😅
I lived in Germany for several years and moved to the U.S. and purchased a “fixer-upper” home. On the docket for replacement were the windows. To make a long story short, the cost of replacing every window on the house with a normal American window was within ~$1k of the price of a single “German” window. The cost to replace all of the windows with the German style was nearly the total price of the home itself.
So yeah, I would love to have those windows, but they’re not made or at least readily available in US markets.
Now I wonder how much an American window costs over here
Your dignity
Tbf it’s more of a european thing. I’m Italian and I’ve installed hundreds of these.
Also… Assuming Liftup windows actually exist in America and aren’t just a myth. You.should be able to do something similar by jamming something in the window rail.
Standard swing windows though… Pray.
Sash windows are the common type used for American homes, though you’ll find a good mix of casements (typically the ones you have to crank to open/close).
The only deal breaker for me would be casement windows that open outwards. The area I live gets a lot of bugs in the summer, and so our windows have screens to help keep pests out while windows are open. Sash windows and casements that open inwards work fine with screens, but casements that open outwards typically don’t.
I have (in New England) a few windows that open outward and screens are just mounted inside rather than outside.
Yeah if you have those crank style ones it’s possible at least. I’ve only seen one which was a push to open window with screen on the inside that opened on a hinge, but it seemed like it had a pretty poor seal with the wall as a result and bugs would have an easier time crawling through.
Honestly having the screen on the inside is probably more convenient too. If you’re cleaning both sides of a window where you’d have to remove the screen either way, I imagine it’s easier to remove the screen from inside than outside just given the elevation differences.
For why these are superior:
Fully open mode = big hole for air go thru.
Slanty mode = very windy ez, rainy ez, rainy and very windy… just close window.
But, the innovation I miss more than the windows were the roller shutters.
First of all, light blocking. Forget blackout curtains or something, just roll down the shutters and no light is getting in. If you work nights or something, you can block the sun completely and sleep in the dark. Along with that, the light is being blocked while it’s still outside. Why does that matter? Light means heat. In summer you don’t want the heat inside. Block it at the shutter and it doesn’t come inside to heat the inside of the house. Compare that with blinds, curtains, etc. In that case, the light has already entered the house before it hits something and heats it up. With white curtains you’ll reflect a lot of the light back out, but you’re still heating the interior of the house. They also reduce noise, add security, protect in bad storms, etc. But, to me, blocking the light and keeping the heat out was so much more important.
Am American.
…What?
German windows are (like a lot of things in Germany) extremely well engineered. This is a point of pride and whenever I have hosted Germans at my house (I’m Australian) they have actually brought this up with me.
It’s become a bit of a meme.
So their windows… Open?
If handle is rotated 180 degrees up from the closed state, window would tip slightly but not fall down. This allows room to ventilate while not opening window fully. Possible pros: doesn’t make room too cool, doesn’t let rain inside, presumably wouldn’t let burglars inside as tip point is too narrow to squeeze through. Maybe something more, dunno.
If handle is rotated 90 degrees, window opens as normal.
I havent met so many Americans or non-EU people in my life who have different windows in their homelands. But those who I’ve met, like our type of windows more than theirs. Also, these are sturdy AF and foolproof. Never saw one with a broken frame.
We have these here in the UK but the mechanism is the other way round, so that it makes to sense 👍
Do you mean it makes sense like how your school lunch ladies appear to be called dinner ladies? That kind of sense?
All meals in Britain are called “dinner” somewhere in the country :)
Maybe it makes sense like how private schools there are called “public schools” and public schools are called “private schools”. I will never understand that one.
1st position detent = tilt (small opening).
2nd position detent = door (big opening).I get that “horizontal handle = door” kinda makes sense… But doesn’t feel intuitive to me
It’s just in the direction you would need to apply force to open it no?
this is not a German thing. they exist outside of Europe, let alone Germany, as pretty much standard. I’m actually surprised if Americans don’t have to this. although I think shouldn’t be, considering in how many ways it’s such an ass backwards country.
edit: just want to clarify that I don’t know whether Germans invented it or not; by “not a German thing” i meant it’s not exclusive to Germany.
these are far from standard for Americans. they’re luxury for sure and they’re called German windows.
this is funny, because I’m pretty sure most sold in Germany are made in Poland. Not that Poland invented them or anything
Somewhat reminds me of https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/vasistas#Etymology
So if a squirrel falls in the window while you’re gone, it’s stuck there until you open the window the right way?
It opens to the inside.
What if the squirrel is Australian?
My back door does this. No one knows how to use it besides me.
Wait, doors can do that too? I have to try this on our door (I think it’s the same model as our window), so it might work.
Yep. Had it 30 years and it confuses all that come to it for some reason. Yet it’s so simple. Handle in the middle like a regular handle opens it normally. Handle up opens it in tilt.
