Treppenhaus is one of scores of German compound nouns, that is a noun made up of two or more nouns. Treppe means stairs and Haus means house. Put together they describe the hallway of a building shared by multiple occupiers. If the building has several Klingelknöpfe (doorbells) then you can expect to walk into a shared Treppenhaus on entering the building.
In many old town houses which have been divided up into apartments the Treppenhaus might contain several lockable letterboxes. The Briefträger (postman/woman) can then easily deliver mail to all the residents of a large house without having to climb five or six sets of stairs in each building.
Another feature of German Treppenhäuser is the light switches. There is a light switch on each landing so that anybody entering or leaving the building can switch on the stair lights. After two minutes the lights then go off automatically, saving electricity and cutting down on waste. Legendary German efficiency.
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| Elegant art nouveau staircase in Vienna |
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