Finnish culture of life
For the Finns, the sauna is a way of life. It’s where people relax, take care of their health, meet friends, and escape from everyday life. People from the land of the midnight sun take saunas in summer and winter. Whether it’s short, ten-minute sessions for lightning relaxation or extended sauna visits combined with fun and games or rest breaks in between. Finns “live” and love saunas.
This is also shown by the fact that of the 5.4 million Finnish inhabitants, about 3 million have their own sweat room. In addition, they can be found almost everywhere: in hotels, train stations, gyms, small and large apartments, even in buses, on ferries or even in foreign Finnish embassies as well as in the parliament in Helsinki.
Finnish sauna rules
Finns sauna quite differently than Germans. In public saunas, people always wear bathing suits. People only sweat naked in the company of family or acquaintances. Also, the silence with the sauna as well as the hourglass obligatory in Germany do not originate from Finland. Finns chat cheerfully while sweating and stay as long as they like, even for hours in the heat.
They sit either on the bare wood or also on carpets, sometimes also by candlelight in the hot steam. There is also no strictly defined infusion with fragrant water additives. To one’s heart’s content, pure water is poured in rough quantities onto the hot stones. In the process, the ″Löyly″, the glowing smoke or sauna steam that hissingly rises from the glowing stones, is created again and again.
Sweating with Löyly
Finns love the hot löyly, where the water vapor settles on the skin like ember breath and forms drops there. As a result, sweat production kicks into gear even more. To ensure that the löyly really touches everyone, in public saunas the so-called sauna master wads the hot air into every nook and cranny with a cloth. The hot löyly, which can be felt directly on the skin, tends to scare off those unaccustomed to saunas. This is because it already poses extreme challenges to the circulatory system and requires a certain amount of getting used to.
Löyly sauna
In Finland, there are large sweat baths – the löyly saunas – with extra large sauna stoves so that there are extra hot löylys. The steamy infusions are really celebrated in these parts. Even social events are held in saunas. There are various ways to operate the sauna heater: electrically or with wood. The unique Löyly sauna in Helsinki, built by star architect Ville Hara, is well worth seeing. In addition to sweating, it offers various culinary delicacies from the region.
Rarity smoke sauna
Quite rare in its country of origin has become the smoke sauna, the ″Savusauna″, which actually originally prevailed there. Only in the Finnish regions of Savo and Lapland can they still be found in abundance. The firing of the smoke sauna is a science in itself. This is because the sauna room is heated for hours by means of a wood stove without a smoke outlet or by means of wood under an open accumulation of stones, the ″kiuas″. The smoke fills the room until it reaches the desired temperature.
Then it is allowed to escape through vents in the ceiling or roof. The sooty smoke leaves its black traces all over the interior and also on the sauna guests. The Savusa sauna is popular among Finns, among other things, because of its cozy, soft warmth. Furthermore, the smoke helps to cleanse the body. It kills bacteria and disinfects, which counteracts diseases.
Conclusion
Finnish sauna culture is a fascinating and central part of life in Finland. With about three million saunas for 5.4 million inhabitants, the sauna density is impressive. Finns use the sauna not only for relaxation and health care, but also as a social gathering place. In public saunas, visitors wear bathing suits, while in private they sweat naked.
There is no silence, but rather lively conversation. Water is used for infusions, and the “löyly” is a special Finnish experience. Finnish sauna culture is a symbol of Finnish identity and shows how important the sauna is to Finns. No matter what kind of saunas you sweat in: Taking a sauna is healthy for body, mind and soul. Because it contributes to relaxation and health maintenance and means pure joy of life, especially in the ″land of a thousand lakes″.
