Abstract: An awning construction includes two guide rails, disposed below a wind-up roller and extending vertically and spaced apart from and parallel to one another. The guide rails are secured to the wall of a building. Two arms, connected at one end with a cross rail extending parallel to the wind-up roller, travel inside the guide rails. In order to impar a pivoting movement of the arms, two racks are seated in the guide rails and can be made to engage two gear segments, so that when the awning web is unwound from the rolling-in position the two arms, extending substantially vertically, initially slide downward in the guide rails until the racks engage the gear segments, and then the arms pivot about the racks.