Swiss Windows: A Cultural Contrast to the USA

The windows of my childhood home rarely opened to let in the outside air. Mom latched them shut the year the air conditioning was installed. The screens remain stored in the basement behind the mahogany bedroom furniture, something else that will never be used again. This headboard and dresser went downstairs when we replaced it with a new oak set in 1992.

White shutters decorate the front windows of our 1960s ranch style home is Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Although no neighborhood association existed to dictate to my Dad that the yellow brick house would look lovely with the accent of shutters, all eleven houses at the top of Hemlock Drive, one-by-one added shutters to the front windows. Handymen drilled metal shutters in place on the brick homes. These shutters bolted to the bricks or sidings of the two-story homes are fixed permanently on the homes in three colors: either white, black or forest green. The shutters cannot open or close; they simply decorate.

When I moved to Switzerland in August, 2010, I discovered a culture shift regarding the houses. Windows open and shutters decorate, but open and close too!

Homes have no air conditioning. The Swiss say they don’t need it, the air is cool year-round. The breeze from an open window is all they need. (My Dad said that same thing until the AC was installed.) Often in the morning as I ride the train to work, I see duvets hanging out of the open windows against the exterior walls. The Swiss air their linens this way by hanging the covers from an open window. One would never see this in the US, especially not my neighborhood where the windows of the other homes like mine were latched with the installation of the AC house-by-house.

In Switzerland, some homes have little lace curtains over the windows. Heavy drapes are rare. Unlike my family home, the Swiss shutters are functional. Latches on the stucco or wooden exteriors hold the shutters fully open or flat against the houses. Then, there is the option to just open the shutters at varying positions. Metal arms from the window frames keep them in place. The shutters can block the heat from the sun or insulate from cold wintery weather. Open, the shutters expose the outdoor view and ventilate the houses. Closed, the shutters provide darkness and privacy. White, black or green – the Swiss go beyond this uniform appearance. The photo essay “Dressed-Up: Windows of Switzerland” illustrates their creativity and style.

March 27, 2011

From Zermatt, Coppet, Nyon, and Geneva, then across Lake Geneva Yvoir in France, the windows of the Alps are dressed-up with colorful flowers and shutters.