It is difficult to write a reliable story if you have not seen something with your own eyes. My very good friend Andrey helped me write this article about the German bath. There is no doubt about the reliability of the information; the person has been living in Germany for a very, very long time.
Fans and connoisseurs of baths and saunas speak enthusiastically about the Finnish bath. Someone says that there is nothing better than a Russian steam room. And only sophisticated connoisseurs know about the features of the German bath.
If you are going to Germany, read this article to be fully prepared and be sure to go to the bathhouse! The Germans also know a thing or two about steam rooms!
Of course, a German bathhouse is completely different from our Russian steam bath with a massive stove. This is more of a sauna, rather than a bathhouse in the full sense of the word. Although, there are some similarities, but more on that later.
Special German sauna
The Germans do not have such a reverent attitude towards the bathhouse as the Finns or Russians. I asked my friend: “When you go into the sauna, it smells like a bathhouse. Do you feel like you’re definitely in a bathhouse?”
The sauna smells pleasant and, of course, there is a feeling that you are in a sauna. But compared to a Russian bathhouse, these are not the same feelings.
- Andrey
The bath complex itself is divided into two sectors. In one sector there is a shower, a swimming pool, and in the other the steam room itself.
The arrangement of the sauna is quite ordinary: shelves and the stove itself. The German sauna does not hold tanks, basins, ladles and brooms.
You are not allowed to wear swimming trunks or swimsuits in the German steam room. You can steam completely naked.
This is due to the Germans’ belief that synthetic fabric is not environmentally friendly; for the same reason, it is forbidden to wear flip-flops or rubber slippers in a German bathhouse. These are the rules of the pedantic Germans...
Another important rule for visiting a bathhouse is maintaining silence. You should not distract visitors from the process. Only silence, enjoyment of warm air and pleasant aromas! If one of the ignorant visitors violates this prohibition, he may even be reprimanded.
Yes, you won’t hear here: “Give it to the park,” no one grunts or groans at the shelf. Our peoples have completely different mentalities.
But they still know how to give a parka in a German bathhouse. They just do it their own way...
A little dry theory
In Germany (and also in Austria, keep in mind if you are going to ski resorts) there are very unique bath traditions. Locals consider it unhygienic, wrong and even possibly disgusting to bathe in synthetic swimsuits. It seems like these newfangled materials are harmful and unsafe. But at the same time, all German baths are shared - and traditionally men, women, children and old people go to the “therms” completely naked. This doesn’t bother anyone except the numerous Russian tourists who end up there either by accident or out of curiosity. In the first case, the reaction of our people is mainly negative, and in the second, it is not entirely adequate.
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Aufguss ceremony
Translated from German, Aufguss means infusion, pouring. I asked Andrey to explain, clearly in Russian, what the meaning of this procedure was. And this is the answer I received:
Water or ice mixed with aromatic oils is poured onto the stones or stove in the sauna... It is for this reason that the sauna has an amazing aroma.
The meaning of the procedure is that the stones in the oven are partially doused with cold or hot water. When poured, the water evaporates and increases the humidity in the sauna. The evaporation of sweat on the skin is complicated and the body heats up even more.
In Aufguss, a special wooden basin is used from which the stove is watered.
- Andrey
The Aufgus ceremony is nothing more than our Russian bathhouse fun of giving in to the park! Only each nation has its own park. We can have it with kvass, beer, birch infusion. But the Germans have aromatic oils.
The most pleasant
The procedure of swimming in such places is very pleasant and relaxing. In public saunas you cannot speak loudly or make any noise at all. This may prevent other guests from enjoying their stay. You can sit or lie on the shelves only on special bath towels, which are 2 meters long. You cannot touch wood with bare skin. It's not hygienic.
You should arrive at the beginning of the “aufguss” - pouring out the stones - on time. It is important. During aufguss, a sauna employee pours water with honey, eucalyptus or orange aromatic oils on the stones and diligently disperses the steam. At the same time, he entertains visitors: he tells them jokes and jokes. You cannot leave the hall at this moment, so as not to let off precious steam. You can only leave if you feel sick.
Then you can start swimming. Some saunas play pleasant music during Aufguss and hand out free salts, creams or ice cubes for the skin. After the procedure, you may be offered a cup of tea, fruit or ice cream. All this is already included in the entrance ticket price. Aufguss in saunas are held according to a schedule, so it is customary to arrive on time so as not to disturb the special beauty of the ceremony.
How does Aufgus pass?
The park is supplied by a special person “Saunameister” who is assigned to this. The door is opened in front of Aufgus and a large amount of fresh air is let in.
Air from the street is forced into the sauna with a towel. This saunameister then uses a towel to disperse the steam from Aufgus throughout the sauna.
- Andrey
The master’s movements are more reminiscent of a kind of mesmerizing dance with a towel in his hands. It's like a real show: moral, physical and aesthetic satisfaction is guaranteed!
The ceremony schedule is usually posted in each steam room. You can easily navigate by the start time of Aufgus.
It is quite difficult to say exactly how long Aufgus takes. The duration may only last 6-8 minutes, but there are also record steam outputs!
Aufgus can last more than 20 minutes. Regardless of the time, you cannot leave the sauna until the end of the ritual.
After the end of the fragrant steaming, another ceremony begins - visitors drink beer!
About the culture of behavior
The women's bathhouse in Germany, a religious institution, is more likely for newcomers who are unaccustomed to the generally accepted practice than for the natives, and even a delight for the female part of the country's Muslim diaspora. The traditional public bathhouse in Germany, on the contrary, has its own rules of cultural behavior, because the Germans are a cultural nation, no matter what evil tongues may say. So, the main theses of the unwritten code of the real German bath wolf:
- No clothing except a natural towel and no rubber slippers.
- A real German bath towel should have the following dimensions. The length is the height of its owner, plus two more palms. Width - the distance from the fingertips of an outstretched arm to the middle of the chest. These parameters are not taken out of thin air. In the steam room you can sit only on your own towel, with your hands resting on it. If you occupy the second and third shelves, then your feet rest on the lowered edge of the towel. The dripping sweat ends up on the towel and stays there. No greasy shelves and no burns. Although the Germans were the first who began to massively use the African maple - abash for arranging paired rooms.
- There is no talking or loud expression of emotions in the steam room or thermal pool. If you can’t relax yourself, don’t bother others.
- There is no need to eat through the eyes of visitors, and especially female visitors. A wild look and lack of reaction to the environment is the first sign of an unusual and complex guest of the federal republic. If the reaction, on the contrary, is gushing and excessive, such a client will also be carefully taken out by the staff of the establishment and also, according to the good German tradition, shot. When visiting public baths in Germany, one can have a different attitude towards the manifestation of shame, considering it the boundary separating man and animal, or vice versa - an extreme degree of hypocrisy. In any case, the culture and customs of the host country must be respected.
The secret highlight of a German bath
If you are a shy person, then the following fact may simply shock you.
The main secret highlight of the German bathhouse is that they do not have a division into male and female halves.
German sauna - shared. People here like to visit the steam room with the whole family and consider it inappropriate to separate the visit by gender.
Steaming naked is the rule!
Men and women warm themselves, splash in the pool, and wash in the shower together. And no embarrassment! No swimsuits!
But there are still saunas that are open only to women on days. For some, this is a very pleasant departure from the rules. For example, it would be difficult for me to feel comfortable in a sauna, completely naked next to men.
A joke immediately comes to mind:
“If a naked man accidentally ends up in a women’s bathhouse, the women squeal and try to throw boiling water on him... And if, by chance, a naked girl ends up in a men’s bathhouse, on the contrary, all the men are very happy and friendly. This once again proves the kindness of a man’s heart.”
Come to Baden-Baden
A German bath - "therma" or "baden" - is very often set up in places where thermal waters come to the surface. Remember the famous resort town of Baden-Baden, so popular, along with Karlovy Vary, among the advanced Russian intelligentsia of the century before last. What a place it is. In Germany there is even the entire federal state of Baden-Württemberg, the same one in whose capital, the city of Stuttgart, the headquarters of the Daimler company is located, which produces the legendary Mercedes, so beloved by our officials of different flight altitudes.
What primarily distinguishes a German bath is its comprehensive approach to business. Very rarely, mainly in the south and extreme east, the bathhouse functions as a conservative purebred sauna, providing a very narrow list of services. The classic German bath complex is a whole industry. There are many different steam rooms for every taste: low-temperature Turkish, medium-temperature with abundant thick and viscous steam, high-temperature dry saunas with a wide gradation of temperature conditions, even extreme ones, salt grottoes, relaxation areas with access to a garden or an area with a magnificent landscape, swimming pools - thermal, open, closed, fonts with ice water. Moreover, the quality of finishing, designs, and the services provided in general is the highest. Impressive, isn't it?
The cost is very strictly tied and regulated by time and, in most cases, ranges from 6 - 19 euros per hour and 22 - 45 euros per day.
List of cities that start with Bad
Bad Schussenried, Bad Schussenried, 88427, Germany Bad Aibling Bad Aibling Bavaria Bad Friedrichshall Baden-Württemberg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Bad Homburg Hesse Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach Rheinland-Pfalz Bad Langensalza Bad Langensalza Thuringia Bad Neustadt an der Saale Bad -Neustadt an der Saale Bavaria Bad Reichenhall Bad Reichenhall Bavaria Bad Salzuflen Bad Salzuflen North Rhine-Westphalia Erkenbrechtallee 10, 91438 Bad Windsheim, Germany – we were in these baths!
There are a lot of cities with the beginning of Bad and each one is unique. If there are such cities on your route, then feel free to go there. You will be the first tourists and then you will tell us what is interesting there. Google map will help you. I prefer Bavaria and Bavarian small towns.
Enjoy your travels in Germany and have a good steam in German saunas!
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PS, for ethical reasons, we are not able to post photos and video material from German baths (from the interior), be content with the available photographs and overview video.
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How to choose and find a good sauna in Germany - choose cities with Bad
All German cities that begin with Bad are very interesting and almost every city has thermal complexes and spa centers.
We were choosing a place to stay in one of our “EuroAutoTrips” and accidentally stumbled upon the town of Bad Windsheim. Later we learned that Bad is a resort town with thermal waters, recreational facilities, museums and attractions. Cities with the beginning of Bad are the real Germany, these cities are valued not only by the Germans, there are plenty of tourists there, now you know that when traveling around Germany you can and should stop in small towns with Bad. Make yourself a Bad Tour! The prices for hotels here are pleasantly surprising, as is the service!
Swimsuits are not allowed!
Many health and entertainment facilities in Germany were built in areas where thermal waters come to the surface. This means that you can not only take water treatments and steam there, but also enjoy healing underground water.
“German bath and water establishments are usually divided into two zones,” says my friend from Germany
Manfred
. — In the part of the complex where the pools and water slides are located, you must wear swimming trunks and swimsuits. In the sauna and steam bath area, both men and women are completely naked. You are only allowed to wrap yourself in a cotton towel.”
The fact is that German lovers of “real steam” are firmly convinced that the use of synthetic materials in rooms with high temperatures and high humidity is unacceptable. Swimsuits and swimming trunks, in their opinion, can become sources of dangerous fumes that will negate the therapeutic effect of the sauna. Of course, there is no question of entering the steam room in rubber slippers.
Rules
There are also certain unspoken rules in place on the territory of the bathhouse complexes. For example, photography and video recording are not carried out in these premises. It is also not customary to look at visitors and comment on their appearance.
In general, German bathing traditions differ quite significantly from similar traditions in other countries. Therefore, many foreigners are shocked when encountering them for the first time. However, for brave people, visiting such an establishment can be an interesting experience of getting to know another culture.
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Most visited complexes
The Berlin Liquidrome complex is the leader in attendance among all establishments in the country. Its popularity is partly due to the presence of healing springs directly below it. Here you can also swim in a pool filled with sea water and undergo a full course of procedures completely free of charge.
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No one is ashamed of nudity
Germany has a relaxed attitude towards nudity, especially when it is related to health. This attitude towards nudity began in the nineteenth century, when Scandinavian steam baths became popular. In the late twentieth century, nudity became widespread on beaches, city parks, and walking trails. Recent years have seen a decline in nudity in outdoor and open space settings, but bare skin is still the standard in bathhouses.
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In Goethe's country, it is not customary to be embarrassed by the nudity of the human body, so it is considered absolutely normal to wash in the presence of other naked people, regardless of gender.
In addition, children, teenagers, and adults bathe without hesitation in each other’s presence. If someone in the bathhouse begins to cover his own body, then local residents will look at him with distrust and wariness. To be fair, it is worth saying that walking around the entire complex in what your mother gave birth to is strictly prohibited.
This rule only applies to steam rooms and saunas.
No contact!
The purpose of being naked in a sauna has nothing to do with titillation or sexual encounters. Most likely, the point is different. If all areas of the skin are simultaneously and evenly exposed to hot steam, then visiting this area will be most effective. I think this is the right setup. After all, the original purpose of a sauna is to relax and improve a person’s health. And if you want to improve your health, then there will be no time for embarrassment.
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It is important not to forget to bring a robe and sandals with you, so that in between visits to the sauna you can walk around the complex. And, of course, you need to take a towel with you (or better yet, two at once - it will come in handy!). You will need a towel not only to dry yourself, but also to lay it on the bench and sit down to rest. Naturally, you must bring your own soap and shampoo. Not all German saunas offer bath accessories, so you need to take care of this in advance.
What does the sauna process look like?
You come to the bathhouse, pay for the amount of time you need according to the tariff and go to the locker room. Further, the situation differs from the rules in a particular bathhouse - in some you can leave the locker room in a swimsuit, robe or at least a towel, but you will be required to take them off in the steam room or pool. In others, all your embarrassment along with your clothes must be left in the locker room - immediately behind it is the “Freikörperkultur” space. However, no one can forbid you to wear a towel or a robe made of natural materials, but you will look like a black sheep. In the steam room, you can also wrap yourself in a towel, but then you must have two of them, because one must be placed on the shelf in the steam room (so as not to drip your sweat onto it).
Public baths in Germany
I read a lot of reviews from our tourists, where opinions are divided and not everyone calmly goes to steam naked, although we met several people.
The main visitors to German baths are Germans, but there are also Italians, Poles, and French. We visited German baths in the area of Neuschwanstein Castle and in the town of Bad Windsheim, 48 km from Nuremberg, there is a very beautiful open-air museum there, I put a link and you can read it.
Joint German saunas are a kind of calling card of Germany, I advise you to remove the complexes and visit, because this is not just a bathhouse, all kinds of ceremonies are held there every 30 minutes, salt is brought, oil is added, parables and stories are told, but the truth is in German. Excellent cuisine, luxurious conditions and panoramic views. For example, near Neuschwanstein Castle, and these are the baths of King Ludwig, a view from the pool of the castle itself and the Alps.
