A history of the Sauna

The history of the sauna building.

In the beginning, it’s believed that saunas started out as part of small dwellings that would include shallow fire pits, with two or three layers of smallish stones at the bottom.

The first saunas made from wood were built in Finland in the 5th or 6th century and were typically log cabins which were heated by fire and smoke. These cabins had a dual purpose – they were both a dwelling and a sauna. The techniques that they used building these cabins were borrowed the world over and the architectural styling of early saunas can still be seen today.

In their most basic form, saunas often were full of smoke. The ‘smoke sauna’ was a dome-shaped rock stove or oven that became the model for the modern smoke saunas which are still used today. These smoke saunas of the past, however, are miles away from some of the more interesting new saunas on the market today like the infrared sauna.

The smoke sauna was usually separate to a baking oven that may have been close by. Most of these early cabins had two different hearths, although a few exceptions would have an all in one cooking/ baking and smoke sauna hearth in one part of the cabin. Cased in brick stoves were most often used because they were less prone to set fire to the wooden buildings. The next stage in sauna evolution occurred with the advent of the ‘sauna with chimney’ which was introduced at the end of the 18th century. The normally smokey section was extended to a flue and damper and led out through the roof as a chimney. This sort of sauna became popular during the 19th century when the stone chimney also made it possible to construct separate saunas in towns where most of the houses where still made of wood.

Saunas and metal cased stoves went into mass production (with every thing else) during the industrial age circa 1910. Buy 1930 the stove business was in full swing and many people were using the stoves as a continuous heating device, as well as place to bake and cook. In Finland and other areas, the stoves where also used to keep the bathing water and saunas stones warm and provided steam for the sauna. Thus the urban sauna was born however its popularity was declining as the sauna was out of step with the new industrial modern lifestyle that many where trying to achieve. What did happen though was that after the 1930’s the innovation of the ‘modern stove’ brought about the rediscovery of the sauna tradition in Finland.

Even though the modernization of the stove occurred during the early 1900s there is still a popular wood burning sauna operating in Helsinki.

When saunas did become more common (after the 1930’s), it was normal that there were separate sections for men and women and private side area which families would sometimes use for bathing. The sauna become a social area where you could meet up with friends or relatives… a tradition which is still alive today although it’s a lot less popular. There’s only a couple of public saunas in Helsinki compared with about 170 which were around at the end of the WW II

The sauna in it’s modern social format has many different connotations. A public sauna now is usually part of a health club or often as a gay venue. People have a fascination with saunas and nudity.. if you don’t believe me, just go to wordtracker.com and see how many people search for nude sauna pictures, or nude sauna babes, or sauna sex. There’s more then a thousand such searches a day.

So the sauna, which started out as a humble hearth in a wooden cabin, became a modernized encased stove and then to the electric saunas that we know so well today.
The electric version is safe and easy to use. You can usually activate the sauna at the touch of a button, there’s no smoke, and a separate sauna building is no longer necessary.
As well as the common electric version, there’s a plethora of new saunas on the market that are aimed at promoting health. Infrared saunas and barrel saunas, as well as sauna suits (used to exercise in) are discussed at length on other areas of this site.

While saunas are often built into basements and separate areas in apartment blocks, it’s now possible to build a sauna next to an existing room in your house.


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