Do Americans/Europeans have private saunas?

So here's the thing. I live in Russia, and here we mostly live in the appartments in the cities. There's very few people who live in private houses in the countryside, and they are mostly either very poor (so they can't afford to live in the city) or very rich (so they can afford good houses). There's really not much of middle-class living in the private houses, although it happens.

Anyway, mostly people live in the cities. But a lot of us also DO own a countryside piece of land with a house on it. We use it for growing vegetables and just spending weekends there, away from the noise of the city. It's not practical to live tehre full-time due to the lack of infrastructure and insane heating bills in our long winters.

Anyway, when we do own such private house, we often build a special Russian type of sauna there. It's a small wooden room that we heat up really hot (often to 100 degrees Celsius) and we then wash there and perform thermal procedures and whatnot. It's a very enjoyable thing, actually. And it's not hard or expensive to make, so most people make them when they own a land.

What I ask it, do Americans or Europeans own/build such things? And I don't take rich estates that have pools and other kinds of entertainment - I'm talking middle class.

That temp is lethal.

Many UK people have hot tubs but saunas are unusual.

twister947 said:

That temp is lethal.

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It's air temperature. Air is not a very good temperature conductor.
And it's not lethal because your actually body/skin temperature doesn't rise fast enough (and the skin is cooled down greatly by sweat and whatever water you pour onto yourself).

Your hair dryer's air temperature is only about 55 degrees, but it can burn skin because it's blowing, so a lot more air particles hit your skin over the period of time, and thus can transfer heat to it. In Russian sauna the room is small and the air is still. It doesn't conduct much heat to burn the skin, until it is blown.

That brings me to one of the things we do there. We actually use special fans made of small birch branches with leaves on. We use them to hit each other and blow the air so it's hotter. But this instantaneous short burst of heat is not enough to cause harm, only enough to shock your blood vessels enough to benefit blood flow to the skin.
Did you notice how you can move your finger through the flame of a candle and get no harm? The flame is VERY hot compared to sauna air, but you don't get burned at all. That's because the time is not enough for your skin to actually absorb enough heat.

Of course if you stay there for too long you will get a heat stroke and eventually die, because your body can't cool fast enough. But you'd need to stay there for 20-30 minutes for that.

For children and women they often prefer lower temperatures, like 70 degrees, and would go in for 5 minutes max. You can go in several times with breaks though.
But men often like it very hot, and would often pour water on the hot stones to make steam. Steam makes it MUCH hotter, to the point that a person who's not used to that literally can't stand it. But with practice you can endure higher temperatures.

Nezhul said:

What I ask it, do Americans or Europeans own/build such things? And I don't take rich estates that have pools and other kinds of entertainment - I'm talking middle class.

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As Oggs says, more have hot-tubs than Saunas, but a sauna would not be particularly exceptional at any income level. They're just not very popular in most of the US.

Austria here.

We have saunas and I know some people owning their own.

Though most guys I know who are going to a sauna regulary do that in public places.
Buying, maintaining and operating a sauna cost a lot of money and so most people use the ones in public bath / fitness centers / "thermal springs?" or whatever.

Nezhul,

I think what you are describing is found mostly in the Arctic regions. I am very familiar with what you describe, but have only seen them in Alaska. Also, our indigenous people (Native Americans) used similar huts for the same purposes. I wouldn't mind being in one of those saunas today ! For the most part, Americans buy things and have somewhat lost touch with our pioneer self-sufficiency of the past. However, I'm sure their are still some of these saunas to be found in our more northern rural areas too. (Ha, I just remembered that I have mentioned one of the saunas in a story

yukonnights said:

Nezhul,

I think what you are describing is found mostly in the Arctic regions. I am very familiar with what you describe, but have only seen them in Alaska. Also, our indigenous people (Native Americans) used similar huts for the same purposes. I wouldn't mind being in one of those saunas today ! For the most part, Americans buy things and have somewhat lost touch with our pioneer self-sufficiency of the past. However, I'm sure their are still some of these saunas to be found in our more northern rural areas too. (Ha, I just remembered that I have mentioned one of the saunas in a story

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There was a fad in the 60s and 70s that saw saunas being built pretty much everywhere, including Florida, Texas, and Southern California. Up until the 50s or 60s every gym or fitness center had a steam room or sauna. Safety laws and liability lawsuits pretty much eliminated them from public places.

As far as a literary device, a sauna can be inserted in just about any setting, because, as the OP noted, they're easy to built and operate. They can range from out-house sized home builds in the backyard to professionally built indoor bathroom conversions or basement additions.

Germany

Nezhul said:

So here's the thing. I live in Russia, and here we mostly live in the appartments in the cities. There's very few people who live in private houses in the countryside, and they are mostly either very poor (so they can't afford to live in the city) or very rich (so they can afford good houses). There's really not much of middle-class living in the private houses, although it happens.

Anyway, mostly people live in the cities. But a lot of us also DO own a countryside piece of land with a house on it. We use it for growing vegetables and just spending weekends there, away from the noise of the city. It's not practical to live tehre full-time due to the lack of infrastructure and insane heating bills in our long winters.

Anyway, when we do own such private house, we often build a special Russian type of sauna there. It's a small wooden room that we heat up really hot (often to 100 degrees Celsius) and we then wash there and perform thermal procedures and whatnot. It's a very enjoyable thing, actually. And it's not hard or expensive to make, so most people make them when they own a land.

What I ask it, do Americans or Europeans own/build such things? And I don't take rich estates that have pools and other kinds of entertainment - I'm talking middle class.

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Germans have private saunas, but also amazing public saunas. Those are spas with up to 10-15 different saunas, indoor and outdoor pools, whirlpools, restaurants. They are designed and build very expensive. Everybody is welcome, young and old, thin and thick, ugly and beauty, coloured and white. And nudity is duty for everybody there.

switchersm said:

Germans have private saunas, but also amazing public saunas. Those are spas with up to 10-15 different saunas, indoor and outdoor pools, whirlpools, restaurants. They are designed and build very expensive. Everybody is welcome, young and old, thin and thick, ugly and beauty, coloured and white. And nudity is duty for everybody there.

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I think this finally answers the question I've had about why Uncle Rodger and Aunt Lilly spend all of their vacation time in Germany Who would of thought it....

Pools are not just for the rich here. Saunas are rare.

Back home quite a few swimming pools have saunas. But saunas are just a small part of larger entertainment complexes that offer all sorts of other things, never just by themselves.
Almost none of the swimming pools or other entertainment complexes have them over in Australia and Nz. As to their homes - unheard of; hot tubs are a big thing here.

I wonder what influence does that reflect, since Russia is a mixture of so many different ethnicities.

.

hashtag46 said:

I wonder what influence does that reflect, since Russia is a mixture of so many different ethnicities.

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I think it's a Slovenian thing, because many other Slovenian nations do this.

It's also a matter of accessibility and climate. In Europe the territories are small, and wood is a precious resource the use of which was always limited. You just can't burn it every day for your entire life and heat the room with it.
Additionally, due to the oceans and seas, European climate is much milder, you don't have so violent winters there that are the norm here.

In Russia, however, the territory is VAST. And most of it is covered in forests. Russians never ran out of wood - they built with it, they burned it every day. That's why they could afford to wash with hot water every day - lots of it - and heat up small rooms as saunas. They heated up their houses too, and the fire would burn in the furnace 24/7 during cold season (which is 8 months at least).
And they still never ran out of wood. They never used coal either, because wood was easier to come by. Coal was for blacksmiths and factories.

Also there's a matter of climate. First, it's cold here, and warming up in a sauna is very enjoyable, so everyone did it because wood was always free to begin with (not anymore). Another thing is that as soon as snow settles and until it goes away - there's a period where you can't do much of anything at all. You can do small repairs to your furniture, go gather wood in the nearby forest, hunt - that's an extent of it. So it's quite understandable that they spend much time in saunas, because they had this time to spare.

As for USA, NZ, Canada and Australia - they are all European colonies. They brought the culture with them. Naturally, in colder states and in Canada saunas are more popular. In hotter places they are used for recreational purposes, mainly, and as a healthy procedure, but far less spread.

Wow, thanks. Such an interesting read; you always deliver.

I had this nonsensical impression that it was more of an asian/Middle Eastern influence; I wouldn't have expected it to be slovenian.

I really don't know myself. I'm not historian and I'm lazy to look this up.

Maybe it's Asian. It's my personal feeling that it's slovenian, but it is not based on any facts.

You should also remember that most middle-eastern nations are Slovenians too. It was basically this huge mass of people who moved east and north, and so it got spread over a large territories.

Interesting thread! Lots of hot tubs here in Northern California; saunas are nearly only ever in gyms. It just doesn't really get cold enough; every year we get a few weeks of temperatures in the 40s, maybe 30s, but that's it. My bedroom windows haven't been shut in... Well, ever - I've been here 15 years.

lesson

The sweeds actually invented it. Peri H Ling, Created it as a restorative for broken solders in the 19th century, It became adopted by Russian Imperial army units under Nicholas I.

cripple92996 said:

The sweeds actually invented it. Peri H Ling, Created it as a restorative for broken solders in the 19th century, It became adopted by Russian Imperial army units under Nicholas I.

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Sorry. Saunas existed in Bronze Age Orkney.

The Roman bath complexes had a sauna style regime.

we own a sauna

Our current home has a dry sauna room. Last owner used it for the cat box. Took a while and lots of cleaning but it's fun after shoveling, Would love to share it.

oggbashan said:

Sorry. Saunas existed in Bronze Age Orkney.

The Roman bath complexes had a sauna style regime.

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That, and Native Americans fashioned various versions of a sauna before the invasion. A hut of skins or wood...fire...hot rocks...a little water = Ahhhhh

To be fair, our saunas are different from sweden ones.

As far as I am aware, swedes use dry saunas - it is a hot room where you can sit on the bench and let your body relax in heat.

Russians use wet saunas - they pour water on the hot stones to make lots of steam. This gets the sauna very hot.
And our main activity is not so much sitting around in there as hitting each other with brushes made of birch branches. This creates a thermal shock to the skin and is beneficial for blood circulation.

May be you are right

yukonnights said:

I think this finally answers the question I've had about why Uncle Rodger and Aunt Lilly spend all of their vacation time in Germany Who would of thought it....

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The area for clothing and unclothing in my favourite spa is for male and female together. So two months ago I changed my clothes with seven japanese women, all nude and me at least also,except of my cock cage. . We talked together in english and afterwards I met four of them in the whirlpool. We talked unconcerned about their visit to Germany and other european countries. It was very nice and comfortable. And they didn't say anything about my cock cage.

Nezhul said:

I really don't know myself. I'm not historian and I'm lazy to look this up.

Maybe it's Asian. It's my personal feeling that it's slovenian, but it is not based on any facts.

You should also remember that most middle-eastern nations are Slovenians too. It was basically this huge mass of people who moved east and north, and so it got spread over a large territories.

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Huh? Where on earth did you get this? The Slavic Slovene settlement came from the Alpine regions, probably originating somewhere along the Baltic Sea and then migrated in the wake of the Germanic Migrations of the 6thC CE. The idea that Slovenes, or even Slavs, originated from the Middle East has been soundly debunked*

And the Levant/Middle East has been populated before Europe has been Europa. This is such common knowledge that no references is needed.

cripple92996 said:

The sweeds actually invented it. Peri H Ling, Created it as a restorative for broken solders in the 19th century, It became adopted by Russian Imperial army units under Nicholas I.

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Uh, no. Baths, saunas, both dry and wet, and other forms of hydrotherapy, are found worldwide. Many North American Indigenous cultures had forms of saunas pre-contact*. Egyptians* had it as well, not to mention Japanese*, Korean* and various Chinese* cultures. Britain has baths dating from the Middle Bronze Age*. Some of Hungary's oldest baths predate the Roman Aquincum*. ALL of this predates the paltry 19th C CE.


To answer your original question, OP, I know that in Budapest, spa/bath culture is considered to be almost a right. Even upscale saunas/hot rooms/baths are inexpensive (and depending when, free), although this may be for citizens. Single-gendered baths are very rare. Private baths are even more rare. It is seen as a communal activity, and plus, there are some stunning public baths. Why spend the money to build and maintain a sauna when you just show your card, slip on your suit and enjoy it for the price of an espresso? (and often, a coffee comes with the entrance fee...)

(and if you wanted kinky activity, there are places to go that will either accommodate or at least turn a blind eye).

In Montreal and the outskirts, private hot tubs are more popular than saunas. The latter is found mostly in spas. Because Montreal and her regions also sits on water, there are a quite a few affordable spas with a tonne of promotions for the use of the hot baths and saunas.


Because I was once accused of pretension, intellectual conceit and not citing my sources, here you go:
1. Barford, Paul M. The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 2001.
Curta, Florin. The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, C. 500-700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2001.
2.Dvorjetski, Esti. Leisure, Pleasure, and Healing: Spa Culture and Medicine in Ancient Eastern Mediterranean. Leiden: Brill. 2007.
Nordskog, M., The Opposite of Cold-The Northwoods Finnish Sauna Tradition. Saint-Paul: University of Minnesota Press. 2010.
Van Tubergen, A and S. Van Der Linden. "A brief history of spa therapy". Ann Rheum Dis. Vol 61 (3): 273–275. 2002.

switchersm said:

The area for clothing and unclothing in my favourite spa is for male and female together. So two months ago I changed my clothes with seven japanese women, all nude and me at least also,except of my cock cage. . We talked together in english and afterwards I met four of them in the whirlpool. We talked unconcerned about their visit to Germany and other european countries. It was very nice and comfortable. And they didn't say anything about my cock cage.

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We have a lot of natural hot springs here and it is the same way. Interesting how it can become so normal to be nude in mixed company when the focus shifts off of sexuality...not to say it isn't interestingly pleasant

Cock cage

yukonnights said:

We have a lot of natural hot springs here and it is the same way. Interesting how it can become so normal to be nude in mixed company when the focus shifts off of sexuality...not to say it isn't interestingly pleasant

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How would people there act, if a man with a chastity device would present himself there?