Once in a number of European countries, including Holland, Germany and Sweden, you can notice an interesting feature - there are no curtains or curtains on most of the windows. You can safely look into the windows of houses and see what exactly is happening there. No privacy!
In fact, this feature has deep historical roots.
Uncurtained windows have long been one of the brightest elements of "Scandinavian design". In fact, the practice of abandoning curtains is widespread in many European countries. This tradition is very old and has a legislative basis. It started several centuries ago. The rulers of European countries banned curtains so that everyone could know whether a person really lives within his means. If the windows were not closed, then all the neighbors, as well as the representatives of the authorities, saw what was happening in the person's dwelling and that he had nothing to hide.
This tradition was also influenced by the desire of those in power to better control the population. In general, the reason is still the same - a person was obliged to show that he had nothing to hide. The policeman could always look through the open window and make sure that no illegal actions or suspicious gatherings were taking place in the room. The corresponding laws began to be adopted in European countries in the 16th-17th centuries.
Finally, the Reformation in Europe also contributed to the formation of this tradition. It was not at all difficult to identify the Catholics who were persecuted in those days. It was enough to look through the window, but for this it had to be not closed with curtains.
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You can also find such explanations - this is openness. In the same Russia, people have always tried to separate from passers-by and turn their home into a fortress, which no one walking by could see. Hence, by the way, the high fences: no one should know if a person has a lot of money and valuable things, and what he does in his free time.
In Scandinavia, a completely different approach: a person must always remain in sight. Many Swedes live with the motto “I have nothing to hide” - hence the habit not to curtain the windows. Moreover, today it is customary to arrange some trinkets on the windows: small figures, flowers - and all this should look out the window, at passers-by. In part, this, by the way, distracts from studying what is happening in the apartment. By the way, at night, in most cases, people still pull up the blinds - especially if they live on the first floors.
Finally, another reason for the lack of curtains is climatic conditions. In Sweden, as in any northern region, there are long, dark winters. So, in the same Stockholm, the duration of daylight hours in December is about 6 hours; in November and January, the sun sets at about 15:30. If you look at the map of Sweden, it becomes clear that the capital is located in the lower third of the country, which means that north of Stockholm, people do not see the sun even longer. This leads to the desire to make the most of the daylight hours and catch every bright second, which, undoubtedly, is hindered by the curtains.
