Why are windows covered with a cross during the war and how to protect your home in a modern way?

The crosses on the windows look alarming – like a scene from a war movie. Why did people tape their windows crosswise and why do some still do it? Let's find out!

Truth and speculation

You may have heard the theory that crosses on windows during the war meant that all the men living in the house were killed. During the blockade, this was supposedly a sign that the house was empty. But all this is nothing more than speculation.

In fact, the windows were sealed crosswise so that the glass would not fly apart during the bombing.

Firstly, strips of paper or fabric glued to the glass dampen vibrations caused by the blast wave. This can protect the window from destruction if the explosion occurs at some distance from the building.
Secondly, if the glass does break, the fragments will not fly into the room, causing injury to the people hiding there.

But the Great Patriotic War, fortunately, is long in the past - why in our time can you still see windows covered with a cross?

As a rule, this technique is used by residents of places where strong winds and hurricanes are not uncommon. Wind, like a blast wave, causes vibrations that can cause glass to break.

In cities built on the sea coast, in Soviet times they used a curious design for glazing balconies: glass with rounded corners was held in the frames using a thick, wide elastic band - just like in buses.The rubber dampened vibrations caused by storm winds, and the glass did not break.

Some people seal their windows with masking tape if they leave a private home for a long time - for example, they leave a dacha, knowing that they will not return to the site for several years. It’s difficult to say what goals they are pursuing - they just feel calmer this way.

Technological solutions

In the 21st century, of course, there are more modern alternatives to tape, paper strips and bandages:

A generally available option is to stick a polymer film on the glass. There are many types of it - mirrored, stained glass, reflecting infrared rays (the latter will help escape the heat in summer). The film is glued from the inside, so even if the glass breaks, people in the room are not in danger.
In Japan, a country with frantic seismic activity, windows in apartments are made using reinforced glass. It is quite thick, often opaque, and there is a steel mesh located right in it, forming square cells of approximately 2 x 2 cm. During an earthquake, such windows last until the last, and if they do break, they do not injure anyone with fragments.

So, windows taped crosswise are not a sign of something terrible. This is just a “folk” way to protect a double-glazed window from destruction in strong winds. If the residents of a house value aesthetics, they choose more modern means of protection.