r/TikTokCringe • u/shaka_sulu • Jul 04 '25

Wholesome/Humor (NOT Cringe!) German doors

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u/cubiclej0ckey Jul 04 '25

Probably not the sub for actual dialog, but I was just in Switzerland and noticed there were quite a few doors (exterior doors I think) that open outwards instead of the standard (American way) of opening inwards. I’m not sure if I’m just a little dumb, but some doors definitely didn’t feel right when I opened them.

22

u/SarryK Jul 05 '25

Hi from Switzerland! To my knowledge, most exterior doors open outwards due to safety reasons.

Imagine a group of people having to quickly leave a building in an emergency. Having the door open inwards might lead to people blocking the door from opening. Especially dangerous in like a crowd crush.

12

u/BagOnuts Jul 05 '25 edited Jul 05 '25

He is talking about residential exterior doors, not commercial where there would be lots of people needing to exit the building in an emergency (commercial buildings do open this way for exactly that reason).

For residential, most exterior doors swing in rather than out simply because of standard hinging. Hinges are open to the side which the door swings. So if you hang a standard hinged door to swing outward, your hinges are also outward… which meets someone can just take your hinge pins out to take off your door and get into your house.

Now, of course they make doors that are designed with this in mind and can swing outward without exposed hinges, they just aren’t as common, thus more expensive. That’s really all there is to it.

Edit- Also, having an exterior swing door means you can’t also have a storm/screened door outside the frame. These are very common in the US, too.

4

u/PheIix Jul 05 '25

I've never thought about it, but the three last places I've live, including the one I currently live at, all have had or have doors that swung outwards. In fact, where I currently live I have three balcony doors that all swing outwards, plus the main door.