Betriebsausflug: a field trip about ... windows?

Bright and early Monday morning, I boarded a chartered bus to a town I had never heard of: Marktheidenfeld, Germany -- 100 miles northeast of Stuttgart and 50 miles southeast of Frankfurt, basically just south of the middle of the country. Why, you ask? It was my department's annual "industry field trip" and this year we were headed to the "solar management" company WAREMA.

What exactly do solar managers do? They manage the sun's rays, of course. And what does that mean ...? WAREMA designs and manufactures blinds, shutters, and awnings, as well as window treatments to protect against too much sun and even to ward off insects. This all sounds rather bland unless you've experienced German window technology -- and yes, it is both technology and an experience.

Let's look at blinds, shutters, and awnings. German blinds basically look like what you would see in the U.S., the only major difference being that they are more frequently operated by remote control than the typical American household blinds. Shutters, on the other hand, are not clap-shutters but rather heavy-duty blinds. They are operated via pulley or remote control, and resemble the rolling metal doors of garages or store entrances (when the store is closed). Awnings are far more common in Germany than in the U.S. and are also operated via remote control.

Rolladen: Germany's shutters, or heavy-duty blinds. (Imagine the snow.)

View of Rolladen from the outside.

Looking at the top Rolladen picture, you may notice the metal handles on the windows. I have been told that U.S. windows are "old-fashioned": do we really still open windows by sliding them up and down? What happens when they get stuck? Don't we want better ventilation? German windows have handles that operate in two directions: when the handle is vertical, the window opens from the top outward (usually a few inches); when the handle is horizontal, the entire window opens just like a door. There is one drawback, however: there are no screens. This may be fine in the winter, when opening the window for fresh air, but in the summer? Hello, mosquitoes! I joke with my roommates: they will never have to worry about mosquito bites -- the spiders take care of their share and the remaining mosquitoes take care of me! Actually, American screens wouldn't work well with German windows anyway. The screen would have to cover the entire length of the window and doing so would impact aesthetics, not to mention ventilation. (Business opportunity, anyone?)

After touring WAREMA's production facilities, which despite my lack of photos were actually quite fascinating, we returned to the bus and drove onto Würzburg, about 25 miles southeast of Marktheidenfeld. The big attraction in Würzburg, aside from the Main River, is the Marienberg Fortress. We stopped for an hour to explore the fortress grounds before continuing on our way to the local Biergarten for dinner. It was rainy gray day and everyone was in a rush, but I still took my time to get a few pictures.

The "refuge castle" as seen from the fortress.
If I ever return to Würzburg, I definitely want to tour the castle.

Würzburg from above, and from behind the flowers.

Würzburg, the Main River, and beyond.

Some of my work colleagues, thinking "Briana is still taking pictures??"
(Well yes, because where else do you see fairytale cottages like the one below?)

Cottage for the park service? Hobbit summer home? I simply don't know.

Soon it was time to board the bus again. I left the fortress grounds with a general impression of the area, but I would really like to return to wander around more and also tour the castle. I'll just have to add this medieval town to my growing list places to visit, or revisit, as the case may be.

Where does the next door lead?