SaunaScape

The sauna sequence recommended at Sauna in Deutschland

The “Sauna in Deutschland” site of the German Sauna Federation, has a helpful chart showing the proper routine for your visit to a German sauna. The image attached to this post has my translations into English of the original German version.

The German method adds warm foot baths to the mix, something that is not seen among other cultures visits to the sauna. They use these as a way to gently warm the body before entering the sauna and to help recover after cooling down.

The basics of the sequence are:

• Allow a minimum of 2 hours for your sauna visit, and don’t forget to bring towels, sandals, soap and shampoo with you.
• Before you enjoy your sauna take a warm shower.
• To sweat faster in the sauna, dry off fully, and take a warm footbath before entering the sauna.
• Take a sauna session, no longer than 15 minutes, or shorter if you start to feel uncomfortable.
• Laying down in the sauna gives a more even heating of your body. If you are going to do this, you should sit for the last 2 minutes to prevent yourself from feeling lightheaded as you exit the sauna.
• After your sauna, get some fresh air to replenish your body’s oxygen.
• Cool yourself down by dousing yourself with water: Either with a hose for gentle cooling, a deluge shower, or by taking a dip into a cold plunge pool. Before you use the cold plunge, you should rinse the sweat from your body. You should chose a more gentle cooling method (e.g. the hose) if you have high blood pressure.
• After cooling down, take a warm foot bath to rewarm your body.
• Taking another cold shower will help train your blood vessels.
• Now relax, by taking a rest in a reclining chair, using the tanning beds, or getting a massage.
• If you are going to take another sauna session, repeat the sequence from the warm shower.

The Müller’sches Volksbad is one of the most beautiful places to swim and take a sauna in all of Europe. This Art-Nouveau bathhouse, a donation by Munich citizen and engineer Karl Müller, was originally opened in 1901. At that time it was the largest and most expensive pool complex ever built. The facility was rennovated extensively from 1972-1999, including removing what were a series of tubs and showers for the citizens of Munich, and replacing this area with the current SaunaLand.

The large warm water pool at the Volksbad. The cold pool is behind it, under the windows

The sauna area in the Müller’sches Volksbad is no longer the largest in Munich, but it is still the most unique. The soaring ceilings, chandelier hanging in the dome above the pool, the ornate decorative stone, wood, and ironwork, all make you feel as though you had returned to the 19th century while inside. Only the shower room with its modern fixtures and the Finnish Sauna, with its 1970’s vibe feel out of place here.

The Volksbad has only a few baths:

• a Finnish Sauna with an hourly Aufguss program (200°F or 95°C),
• a large steam room with a steam jet blowing near the door and a fountain in the back (115°F or 45°C),
• a Roman-Irish sweat bath with cool (115°F or 45°C), warm (140°F or 60°C) and hot (175°F or 80°C) rooms,
• a sizable cold pool kept at a brisk 60°F or 15°C, and
• a very large warm pool under the central dome.

During the busy hours, the facility can feel quite crowded. Especially with the small sauna, getting a seat for the Aufguss can require you to sit in the sauna for 15 minutes before it gets started.

Bring your swimsuit along, if nothing else to marvel at the architecture in the textil areas. Each of the two pools sit in arched halls. Surrounding the pools are individual wood changing cabins. The pools themselves were both set up for lap swimming and water exercise during my visit. These are probably the least kid-friendly of Munich’s public pools.

There is a restaurant in the building with the Volksbad. This is outside of the admission area. In warmer months, the terrace in front of the Volksbad appears to be their Biergarten.

When you enter the Volksbad, you pay for your ticket at the cashier and are directed to the left-hand turnstile for the Saunaland. As you pass through the turnstile it helpfully displays the latest time you can exit with your admission fee. Once you enter, you come to a recond reception desk with a stairway to your left. To the right of the stairs, there is a bank of small lockers. Choose one of these that has a key, put your entry card into the slot inside, close the door and extract the key.

The ground-floor rest and changing cabins in the Volksbad. Photo from Wikimedia Commons user Chris_73

This key will also open a corresponding locker upstairs. A rule of thumb with your lockers: The lower the number, the further back your locker will be. The highest numbers are right at the top of the stairs. One common comment about the Volksbad is its lack of privacy. Many of the lockers are in the hallway, and there are no changing cabins available on the upper floor. If this isn’t your thing, or you can’t negotiate the stairs, for an extra € 3,80, you can rent a changing and rest cabin on the main floor. These are private, locking wood stalls, and each is equipped with a small bench / bed.  I did not ask, but I believe you rent these from the attendant at the base of the stairs. In addition to the lockers upstairs is a rest room and a fresh-air terrace.

Once you’ve undressed and stowed your things, finding the showers is your next challenge. They’re back downstairs. To get to them, you must progress through the saunaland to the warm pool. Turn left here, and walk through the cooling-only showers into the shower room.

The Volksbad is in downtown Munich, right across from the Deutsches Museum, where the Ludwigsbrücke crosses the Isar. Getting there is easy by public transport: Take any S-Bahn line to Isartor, then follow the signs for the 5 minute walk to the Deutsches Museum. The Volksbad is on the same side of the street as the train station. Proceed down the stairs as soon as you cross the bridge. It is also accessable by Trams 17 and 18. There is no parking available at the Volksbad, but their website shows the location of some nearby garages.

The Volksbad is operated by SWM – the Munich City Utilities. The SWM operates a number of public pools and saunas throughout Munich. The SWM does not offer any towels, robes for rent at any of its facilities. The sauna area does not have a snack bar of any kind. Filtered water is available to fill your own bottle, or if you buy one of their cups.

I just got back from a trip to Germany, where I visited the sauna in my hotel. The reactions seen by some of the unsuspecting guests inspired our latest poll:

Poll Answers

When you visit a German sauna, don’t forget to plan your time there around their aufguss schedule.

What is an aufguss? Well, simply it’s the German translation of the Finnish löyly. Most online translators can’t deal with these words. However the forums at LEO.org suggest it is the ritual of sprinking the hot rocks on the sauna stove with water to make steam.  Sometimes the water is scented with herbs or other essences. It takes 26 words in english to express what the Germans and Finns can in one!

In the other parts of the world where water is thrown on the rocks, it’s a self-service procedure. The sauna at my YMCA has a bucket in the sauna for that purpose. If you want steam, you fill the bucket, and you sprinkle the rocks with water. In Germany, especially at the large saunas, it is a procedure administered only by a trained Aufgiesser.

Most large saunas post their aufguss schedules near the information desk in their saunaland. It shows what times, which saunas, and what special features will be featured in each aufguss for the day. When you see one that you would like to try, go to the appropriate sauna a few minutes before the aufguss is scheduled to start and take a seat. On busy days, you may need to be in the sauna 15 minutes before, as they fill up quickly. Consider the temperature of the sauna when you do this, because if you thought it was hot normally, it will seem much hotter during the aufguss.

When the appointed time arrives, the Aufgiesser arrives. He or she works for the facility. The aufguss begins with the hanging of a sign on the door: “Aufguss in progress: Please do not enter.” If the sign is up and you go in anyway, you will raise the ire of all the others in the sauna. However, if you are inside and the heat becomes too much for you, it is (grudginly) tolerated if you leave quickly.

The aufguss begins with the door being propped open, and the Aufgiesser uses his towel as a fan. This does two things: It brings fresh air into the sauna, and it gets the sauna stove firing at full power. When he closes the door, he will introduce himself, and give a short description of how long the aufguss will last, and what to expect.

Now comes the water on the rocks.

Your Aufgiesser will have entered the sauna with some buckets in hand. These can be filled with plain water, but usually will have some essential oils or other fragrances mixed in. Some facilities rate their aufguss experiences. Mild ones have a small amount of water sprinkled on the rocks. Intensive ones will have whole buckets thrown on the rocks at once, sometimes followed by buckets of ice, which vaporizes more slowly and prolongs the aufguss. As the water steams off of the rocks, you will feel the heat of the sauna become more intense as the air becomes more humid.

Now the Aufgiesser earns her pay: She begins by taking her towel and twirling it around over her head to circulate the hottest air throughout the sauna chamber. You will feel a greater sensation of heat after this. Next she will start at one side of the room, and fan a group of people with her towel to wash hot air over them. She will walk around the room and make sure everyone gets a dose of this heat. Sometimes she’ll then work her way back to the starting point.

When it is your turn, sit up straight, and spread your arms slightly away from your body. Close your eyes and exhale as you hear the snap of the towel. Enjoy the wave of heat that rushes over your body. If you feel like the heat will be too much, raise your legs in front of your body, and hide your face behind your knees, letting your legs shield your body core from the extra heat.

When your Aufgiesser is done, give her a round of applause before she leaves, and takes down the sign. Stay in as long as you can, and enjoy the heat. Then cool down, replenish your fluids, and find the next scheduled aufguss.

According to Spiegel, the German news magazine, more than 1/3 of Germans are regular sauna-goers. Germany has more than 11,000 saunas open to the public. 2,300 of these are independent establishments. Visiting one of these on a cold weekend day makes you realize that these are major enterprises.

Visiting a sauna in Germany, Austria, or its near neighbors is a unique experience — Nudity is mandatory, and on most days the sauna is mixed-gender. You can immediately tell the first-time visitor by their wide-eyed stares after entering this textilfrei zone. This increases when a group of sauna regulars comes in behind them, and sheds any clothing quickly and proceeds to the baths without modesty. As a first-time visitor, you quickly realize you can check your clothes and modesty at the door, or be advised by the saunameister to leave.

Finding a Sauna

With more than one public sauna for every 13 square miles, you can be sure you’re never too far from a sauna while in Germany. Most major cities have many to choose from, and even some small villages have their own sauna. There are three websites and some books that can help you find one:

Sauna in Deutschland is the website of the Deutschen Sauna-Bundes, the German Sauna Federation. They list most public saunas (and also sauna-related businesses) in Germany. According to their search results, as of this writing, they list 2400 public saunas. However, only 50 of these have links to more than just their address as part of their listing. When searching, you are much better off using their map search, or entering a postal code into the search box as city searches are done literally (e.g. “München” returns results, but “Muenchen”, “Munchen” and “Munich” return none). The site is in only German, but pages translate well with Google Translate.

SaunaSauna.de claims to have more than 2200 sauna addresses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in its database. From the search screen, you can search via a clickable map, PLZ code, or city name. The results returned are basic. Most locations show only the name, address and phone number of the sauna, and a brief description of its type. However, with this information, a quick Google search can find the facility’s website for more information. The website is only in German, but there is very little text to read between the advertisements on each page.

Insauna.com [NSFW] is a directory of saunas and other free time activities for Germanic Europe and its surroundings. Insauna makes its money by performing independent ratings of saunas. Starting with its list of the Best Saunas, which ranks nearly 200 saunas who have paid for their extensive audit, and awards them from one to six pearls based on their results. The amazing Therme Erding, for instance, gets 5 pearls and ranks 3rd on their 2009 list.  Ranked saunas get a multi-page profile on the site. You can also browse by country and city for an exhaustive listing of saunas, and other free-time activities for each municipality. The site is written in a very verbose Austrian German, which can give Google Translate fits. The site itself is textbook annoying web design with animated icons and a busy and cluttered visual style.

ADAC, the German auto club, publishes the best maps and road atlases of Germany, and are an indispensable resource if you’re planning to drive at all while in Germany. Their maps have a legend icon that shows locations of saunas, pools and swimming holes. I like the Kompaktatlas for its size, but the Freizeitkarten are specifically set up to help you to find leisure time activities. They are available at bookstores and gas stations everywhere in Germany. TrekTools is one of the few sites that sells these in North America.

Going to the Sauna

For the most part, the saunas in Germany do not supply anything to their guests other than the baths themselves and a locker. It is always a good idea to check the website before you visit to find out the hours, what days are single-gender, what other facilities are available besides the sauna, and the pricing to know which package to ask for when you arrive.

When packing your bag, you should always bring:

• Soap, shampoo and other toiletries,

• Two (2) towels (if not available for rent),

• Waterproof shower sandals,

• A plastic bottle of water, and

• Fresh clothes for when you’re done.

You probably want to bring:

• A bathrobe (if not available for rent),

• A swimsuit if there is a pool as part of the facility,

• Workout clothes if there is a fitness center as part of the facility, and

• Reading material.

Sauna Ettiquette

This is Germany, and of course, there are rules. Violations of these will bring you the scorn of both your fellow sauna goers, as well as a possible reprimand from the staff:

• You must be naked in the sauna area. You can wrap yourself in a towel or robe when you’re walking around, but don’t try to wear a swimsuit in the area. Any pools in the sauna area must be enjoyed naked. However, if there is a separate swimming-only area as part of the facility, you will need to wear a full-coverage swimsuit in that area.
• Your sandals, robe and glasses should be left outside of the sauna room. Hooks, shelves, or racks will be provided in the area.
• When in the sauna, no part of your body should touch the wood benches. If sitting, spread your towel down from the backrest, under your butt, and down to where your feet will sit. Steam rooms vary by facility – some require you to sit on your towel, some provide mats, some provide hoses to wash where you sat. Watch what others are doing before you go into one.
• Silence is golden. In the sauna and steam rooms, conversation is not tolerated. You can say hello as people enter, but otherwise, you should respect others by keeping quiet. This is also true of any quiet rest areas the facility has.
• You must shower before entering the sauna area, and you must sauna after exiting any of the heat baths before entering any pool.
• You do not throw water on the rocks in the sauna. This is the job of the saunameister, and is called an aufgu?. When an aufgu? is happening, you never enter the sauna room. You may exit if absolutely necessary.
• The sauna is the Garden of Eden. Don’t be the serpent and ruin things for everyone.

In Conclusion

If you ever get to Germany, leave your modesty behind and try a sauna. It’s a great, relaxing way to spend your free time. The Germans don’t seem to notice that they’re naked and after a short while, you won’t either.

Our decision to write about Therme Erding for our first post is an easy one: It’s the best sauna we’ve been to, and as such, it becomes the mental yardstick that we use to compare all other saunas.

Therme Erding claims to be Europe’s largest spa. At 129,000 square feet, it’s the size of an average Home Depot, and we’re pretty sure that this doesn’t include the area of the ample garden area that’s part of the sauna. Our count of their web literature shows that there are at least 18 different sauna rooms, from the cool 95°F (35°C) Tepidarium to the 212°F (100°C) Erdinger Schwitzstube. The saunas range from the plain wooden box with a stove to the unbelievable: A Celtic throne room, a planetarium, a salt cave, even a bakery. For the shy, there are even separate saunas for women and men (they serve beer in the men’s sauna). To cool down there are showers throughout the facility near each of the saunas, and even these are over the top: A 15′ tall bundle of calla lilies dispersing 80 gallons (300 liters) per second of water, and a deluge shower in a replica of stonehenge should paint the picture. To round things out, there are pools, and steam rooms, restaurants, a pool bar and more lounge chairs than a cruise ship. And that’s just the sauna area!

Therme Erding also is the home of Europe’s largest thermal pool park (the largest pool here is 15,000 square feet, the size of a Walgreens) and water park with 16 slides. Access to all of this is included in the admission price for the sauna.

The sauna area, like most saunas in Germany, is textilfrei – nudity is mandatory. Don’t let the photos on the web site fool you, if you’re wearing a bathing suit in the sauna, you will quickly be approached and asked to remove it or leave. Wearing a robe or towel is acceptable outside of the pools. Other than a few small areas, the sauna is open to both genders.

You will want to bring a bathing suit, as these are mandatory in the pools and water park.

Arriving at Therme Erding, you enter a large entry hall, with entrances to the water park, pools and sauna. The sauna entrance is at the left-hand side of the hall. When you pay your admission fee, you’re given a key to a locker. If you didn’t bring towels or a robe, these are available for rent at the cashier’s station. The locker area is specific for people who paid the sauna entry fee, so most people just strip down at their lockers. There are changing cabins in each row of lockers for the modest. Bizarrely, the showers are gender specific, and each is equipped with privacy panels. You must bring your own soap and shampoo.

Your locker key is attached to a nylon wrist strap. There is also a black electronic tag attached to the strap. This tag serves as your key to re-enter the sauna area if you leave, and also acts as a charge card for any food / beverages / services you purchase. You will be required to pay your charges before you are allowed to leave.

Therme Erding is located on the outskirts of Munich, a short taxi ride or drive from the Munich airport, and easily accessible by regional rail (S2 to Altenerding) from downtown Munich. On weekdays, there is a shuttle that runs from the station to Therme Erding. On weekends, it’s about a 10 minute walk, and there are plenty of people on the train with you. There is a combination train / Therme Erding ticket sold by the MVV. This ticket will not get you into the sauna. If you’re driving, their website has printable maps, and they have plenty of free parking.

The best plan to attack the Therme Erding is to pack your spa bag, and buy the full day pass. It isn’t possible to even use all the saunas if you only buy the 3-hour card.

You must be 16 years of age or older to enter.

Book a hotel near Erding