Ok, cross checked with my wife: public saunas in FI are gender separate affairs, men and women have separate facilities. Most wear a towel or something to get to the room, then disrobe, place the specific sauna towel on the bench to sit on and use the other towel to wipe or cover some strategic parts if shy.

Since I grew up in India where the climate was a sauna for a few months a year (incl no serious electricity in the village for about 5 years) I don't really get the joy of making yourself sweat on purpose. My wife loves it, but is very private. What the germans do in the sauna shock her :)

What shocking procedures can be experienced in German sauna? :confused:

Two German traits come together in a sauna. One is believing in rules, the other one the preference of everyone being similar.

If few people in a sauna would be naked or wouldn't be naked (doesn't matter, actually), those few that are different cause everyone else to feel that they think they are better. Hence, it's considered to be rude to be different (actually, being different is OK, showing that you are different is what's problematic).

Arguing with your feeling of being inferior due to the behavior of others isn't going to work well. Therefore there are rules that people can refer to when they think that someone isn't behaving appropriately. If it's printed, there's little room for discussions and interpretations.

The fact that you have to be nude in a German sauna is just an accident. It could just as well have been that you have to wear a red hat. It doesn't matter, as long as everyone behaves the same and this behavior can easily be requested.

This behavior isn't limited to saunas, but that would be an entirely different (political) discussion.

I guess it's an equality issue.

Just guess what would happen, if a clothed man would regularly stare at naked women in the sauna. But if he is nude as well, the women can at least stare back. ;)

Welcome to german saunas! Hopefully your visit will be helpful in dropping the average age of sauna visitors below the current 70+ level....

It really depends on where you go. The stylish places like Claudius Therme in Cologne and Therme Erding (nearby MUC) are definitely places where younger folks show up as well. They want all the stuff around the sauna as well, not only a small 5 square meter place with nothing else. That's where you find 70+

Do you have any sociological evidence or indeed any other evidence for your claim? To me, this seems to be stereotypes and prejudice at its best...

Am I aware of any social or historical studies that discuss the reasons whether and why Germans tend to enforce sauna rules more stringent than others? No.

Is there evidence out there to show that in Germany we favor compromises of conflicts, equality of elitism, problems over opportunities, rules over discussions... yes. You only have to open a news paper and read the discussions about school systems, or listen to some political discussions. Or, just talk with people, or observe their behavior.

It really comes down to cultural differences. If you don't feel comfortable with adopting the local culture, albeit temporarily, then don't take part in the activity.

But if you do, and even if that means getting out of your comfort zone, you might discover that you actually enjoy the experience and benefit from it.

(Of course, I'm assuming that you are sensible in your choice of activity avoiding unnecessary risks etc!)

The world is full of rich and different experiences. Embrace them but don't do yourself any harm!

Even Stalin mentioned: "There won't be a revolution in germany, as you have to step on the lawn"

Refering to the many signs in parks not to do so.



This post is not intented to qualify for any Godwin point.

Wow, even Comrade Dzugashvili noticed all of that? Very interesting. Can't wait to check out the German culture. T-minus 3 days :)

Hi and thank you for this insight of the German culture. Wether it is the right answer or not (I don't think there is only one original answer to the question), it is the kind of social / ethnological hint I was curious about ; the systematic (and unfounded) answer about hygiene I was given (even before asking here) was clearly a popular belief (and we all have our typical ones in every country). And this had to have a societal ground.

So thanks again ! And for "Alsacienne", asking "why ?" never implied that I judge the practise as bad or good. It just means that I am curious about it.

Very strong words.

Let me explain it more detailed:

The typical sequence in a sauna is

• Heating
• Showering
• Cooling down
• Resting

If somebody wears clothes in the heating room, the main purpose of the shower - to be clean for the next steps like jumping in the pool to cool down - is suspended.

The only way to avoid negative hygienic impacts would be to enter the heating room with fresh and dry clothes und not to use any facilities inside the bath after the heating turn.

In countries where entering the sauna with clothes is allowed, the temperature of the heating room is maybe not as high as it is in Germany or Finland. A steam bath has a temperature of about 40° which is not much more than a whirlpool.

Yes, I have several towels with the same colour to be able to clean them together at 95°.

For a similar hygienic reason as described above it is prohibited in many bath and pools in Germany to wear those knee-long swimming trunks (german article) for swimming.

which states: "When talking about XXL swim wear Heuser isn't worried for hygenic reasons. (...) Nowadays they use filters and special sieves that deal with fabric and other types of contamination quite effeciently. He's rather worried about the content of their pockets. (...) And there's another reason why pool operators don't like this kind of swim wear: They carry a lot of water out of the pool, says Heuser. Refilling is expensive."

The article also states that those knee-long swimming trunks are prohibited in some, not in many swimming pools.

Just to avoid any misunderstanding... Hygiene is an important topic for many people in Germany. Again, I can only judge from personal experience, interpretation of the products I see around me and studies that cover increased hygiene and cleanliness in Eastern Germany after the reunification 20 years ago.

However, I don't think hygiene is the actual reason to demand nuditiy in saunas. It's kind of difficult to explain that we think that 70°C is hot enough to kill germs in food, 95°C to kill them in towels, but 90-110°C in a sauna aren't.