Everything About the Finnish Sauna Culture

As the destination of my first ever Erasmus experience, I chose Finland. I was aware of all the stereotypes about Finns and the country in general. The stereotype of the people being cold and not so talkative, the world-famous Finnish humor, and I was even warned not to sit down on the bus next to anyone if it is possible to avoid that as Finns might feel annoyed by sitting next to a stranger. These are, of course, only stereotypes. The locals I got to know are the most welcoming and warm-hearted people I have ever met—altough there is something to the point that they are usually not that chit-chatting type of guys when they meet strangers. But what I did not know is that all those ideas I gained about Finnish people go totally invalid when it’s sauna time.

And it’s quite often sauna time—especially during winter which in Finland can last from October until the end of April. It is not hard to count that this means about two third of the year. The first fact you need to know is that they don’t joke when it’s about building saunas. They are basic elements of a normal Finnish home and of social life as well. Finland has a population of about 5 million while the number of saunas in the country is over 3 million! This means that in case of a nuclear attack, the whole population could be hidden in saunas.

Traditional Finnish saunas are heated by wood and they have a temperature of about 100 Celsius degrees. If you try it with locals, you might gonna hear the command "löyly" which—originating from the words of steam and sweating—means you are about to die. When the word "löyly" is out in the air, the closest one to the stove starts to pour more water on the rocks as the command refers to more heat, more steam. To be more specific, it refers to the amount of steam that only people with some Finnish roots in their DNA can bear.

Saunas are so much part of the life that not even long time ago they were used for giving birth. Of course not running, but they were considered to be the most sterile place of the house—they have the significance of almost a home altar.

Besides building many, Finns also put an emphasis on where to build those saunas. One of the most extreme ones even became part of the Guinness records—one cabin of the famous panorama wheel in Helsinki harbour was transformed into a sauna. But this is not the only example of unusual ideas. Helsinki also has a Burger King sauna where after a big fast food meal guests can enjoy sweating out all those junk they just consumed.

What I found the most interesting about Finnish saunas, though, is that they create its own subculture and rituals—almost like a sacred spot. The sauna is the space where everything takes a 180-degree turn. Finns become louder than ever—in the sauna suddenly they become very chatty, trying to shout over each other kind of like a huge Italian family. In the event that the sauna strangers are friends—and here comes the real fun fact—in the Finnish sauna everyone is naked; without any kind of shyness. It is like when they take off their clothes, they take off all social burdens as well. Nobody cares to squeeze in the usually tiny wooden cabins with totally naked strangers, and most of all, no one stares. As a foreigner, I felt like dropping into a super chilled, cool hippie community where the relaxing activity is accompanied by great talks and the funniest Finnish stories. All the locals were excited about tourists and foreigners, wanting to involve us in their unique ceremony. Oh, and yes, the real sauna experience comes with the bath through a whole on the frozen sea or lake. It sounded a bit scary at first and many of my friends asked, how is it possible to survive that cold water? But the truth is that coming out of the 100 degrees sauna the body does not sense that cold already and the ice bath with the sudden temperature change gives a strong feeling of euphoria.

The Finnish sauna gives the impression of visiting another, totally different small country within a country. It creates its own subculture which is an important part of Finnish identity and provides a space for cohesion of a community. Let’s face it: despite the stereotypes of being cold, Finns are real hippies. And if you ever visit Finland, make sure to go to the sauna with a local because that is where real friendships are made.