Finns are wild about Sauna!

The sauna is something Finns cannot help not to talk about, whenever Finland is mentioned. In fact sauna is an integral part of the Finnish countryside since you are unlikely to find a lakeside without its own sauna hut. The sauna is an institution itself, an unchanging sight in the Finnish scene. In the form we know it today, the sauna is the brainchild of the Finns. It is estimated that there is one sauna for every four or five people in Finland and visitors will find them everywhere - in hotels, private homes, on board ships, at motels and of course summer cottages.

A Finn in his Sauna

Sauna is not just any household building or washroom, where one carries out everyday tasks. Sauna is traditionally a special place. In essence it is unassuming, quiet, calm, meditative. And that is what it expects from the bather, too. One does not go to sauna merely to wash, but also to relax and freshen up and to be revived both mentally and physically.

A Finn bathes in his sauna usually when the week's work is over, but often also in the middle of the week. If the day has been cold, dusty or sweaty a Finn goes to sauna in the evening. When he starts a journey and when he comes home from one he goes to sauna. It is also quite usual that a summer vacationer's sauna is hot almost every day. A sauna prepared for a visitor is a sign of acceptance.

Sauna is an inseparable part of the Finnish way of living. Already in the ancient times the hunters first erected their fishing and hunting saunas on waterfronts, and settlers always built a sauna first, then the buildings for cattle and only then the farmhouse. During the war the men at the front usually built a sauna at the same time with the defenses. During former times sauna and bathing were also connected with religious ceremonies and healing, driving out evil and trouble and with magic meant for different purposes.

During the last decades it has in Finland become popular to attach sauna bathing with commercial and other negotiations. This gives the conversation and exchange of viewpoints an unofficial and spontaneous nature that can often help to bring mutual understanding in differing opinions and to reach an agreement. Sauna makes it easy for people to come closer to each other, on the same level.

from Finn'n'Fun in Helsinki
by The Student Union of the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration

 

 

Interesting Sauna Trivia


  • In Finland, the Sauna playes an important part in socializing. Family gatherings and even business meetings take place in the Sauna. Participants are not allowed to leave the Sauna until a deal is made (just kidding).
  • There are more than 1 Sauna for every 3 people in Finland (over two million). That's more Saunas than cars.
  • Finns behave in a Sauna as one would in a church. It is a very spiritual experience.
  • Many Finns have 2 saunas, one for their residence and one for their summer cabing by a lake.
  • A typical 20-minute Sauna session can extract 1 qt. of water from the body.
  • Finns often use short bundles of birch branches, called "vihtas or vahtas", to tap against their bodies to stimulate the skin. These same birch branches can be laid on top of the rocks for a few seconds while water is poured through them to create a very pleasant birch aroma in the room.
  • Many Russians like a very hot Sauna (called "Bania") where temperatures around 300F are not uncommon. They wear a wooled cap in the Sauna to protect their ears and mouth from the high heat.
  • High temperature in the Sauna is comfortable because the humidity is very low.
  • Saunas are even used in hot climates like Saudi Arabia because once you use a Sauna, the outside air feels cooler and you sweat less.
  • In the winter time many Finns will roll in the snow or jump in an icy lake after Sauna. This creates a very unusual tingling sensation all over the body.
  • Every year there are contests in Finland to see who can stay in the Sauna the longest (not healthy though - one can seriously de-hydrate).
  • In earlier time the Finns would first build their Sauna; live in it as it also seconded as a guest house, then built the barn for the animals, and only then built the main residence.
  • When present day Philadelphia was first settled in the 1600's by Finns and Swedes they naked the area Sauna. The first Saunas were built where the City Hall and Naval Shipyards are now located - A plaque in the ground in the Naval yard indicates the location of the first Sauna.

 

 


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