What were they called, those horizontal things in front of the windows that you can put flower vases and photos on?

Oh yes, windowsill!

The name can slip out of your head, as ledges, shelves and boards in the interior are in danger of becoming obsolete.

If you look at the boxy residential buildings in new housing estates, you will usually look in vain for them.

Floor-to-ceiling windows as far as the eye can see.

And even in modern single-family homes, planners now prefer generous glass fronts.

It's a pity really, because this inner, horizontal border between the wall and the window doesn't fulfill any structural function.

But how practical such a board is is only noticeable when you have to do without it after you move.

Anne-Christin Sievers

Editor in the "Housing" department of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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In the kitchen, the board made of stone, wood or plastic offers space for herbs and cookbooks, in the living room there are candle arches, candles and the poinsettia for Christmas, and in the bedroom you can stack your favorite books on them.

But the shelf is much more than just storage space: a place that offers plenty of light for plants and where they thrive particularly well.

A seating area where you can snuggle up comfortably with a pillow, blanket and tea.

The place of the cat that takes its afternoon nap here.

Or a window on the world for the old lady who leans on her pillow with her elbows and watches what the neighbors are up to.

In addition, the windowsill saves an incredible amount of space.

While the residents of the new building without cornices cannot place their furniture in front of the glass pane or in front of the radiator and thus lose twice as much valuable space, the space under the window sill is often used for heating - two birds with one stone.

In addition, if you have to do without a shelf, you need additional furniture, for example to place the orchid or candlestick on it.

But for the reasons mentioned, there is no room at all.

The window sill may seem a bit old-fashioned, but when you think of it, you quickly think of ruffled curtains, bourgeois potted plants and kitschy porcelain figurines.

But they should not be underestimated.

Because it protects us from being constantly visible in the eyes of our neighbors, it marks a border between public and private space in the housing complex, behind it private things remain private.

And that's nice at a time when it's become commonplace to constantly flash at home and on social media.

A part may be left out, remain a secret.

Perhaps it is more in line with the needs of many residents to recreate this protection and retreat structurally: please reinstall it!