German public baths are intended for joint trips with family, work colleagues or friends. Many of them are located on the coast of the Oder and Main rivers, as well as near thermal springs. Their steam rooms are very different from our baths, so Russian tourists should first familiarize themselves with their rules. Different mentality and culture can cause a strong shock caused by the traditions of German public baths.
General German baths - without complexes and without anything at all
Our friends were looking forward to our return from Germany, but not to ask us about the sights of Berlin, the Christmas markets of Frankfurt or Ronneburg Castle. No, the main question that interested everyone was - did you really go to a German bath? and is it true that everyone there is naked? Today, without any cuts or complexes, I’m telling you everything as it happened.
A little dry theory
In Germany (and also in Austria, keep in mind if you are going to ski resorts) there are very unique bath traditions. Locals consider it unhygienic, wrong and even possibly disgusting to bathe in synthetic swimsuits. It seems like these newfangled materials are harmful and unsafe. But at the same time, all German baths are shared - and traditionally men, women, children and old people go to the “therms” completely naked. This doesn’t bother anyone except the numerous Russian tourists who end up there either by accident or out of curiosity. In the first case, the reaction of our people is mainly negative, and in the second, it is not entirely adequate.
What does the sauna process look like?
You come to the bathhouse, pay for the amount of time you need according to the tariff and go to the locker room. Further, the situation differs from the rules in a particular bathhouse - in some you can leave the locker room in a swimsuit, robe or at least a towel, but you will be required to take them off in the steam room or pool. In others, all your embarrassment along with your clothes must be left in the locker room - immediately behind it is the “Freikörperkultur” space. However, no one can forbid you to wear a towel or a robe made of natural materials, but you will look like a black sheep. In the steam room, you can also wrap yourself in a towel, but then you must have two of them, because one must be placed on the shelf in the steam room (so as not to drip your sweat onto it).
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This is where all the dubious features end and the pleasant things begin. Each bathhouse has many steam rooms for every taste - Finnish saunas, Turkish hammams, infrared saunas, salt saunas, etc. and so on. Moreover, there can be several of each type, including those with different temperatures (for example, 80,90,110). At the exit from the sauna, two plunge pools will be waiting for you - with ice and hot water, as well as a tub of ice water that you can tip over yourself. There are also areas where you can sit and soak your feet in hot water. Every bathhouse must have a swimming pool, and even more than one, including an outdoor pool that you can swim into from the main one. Both inside and outside there is a relaxation area with sun loungers. Steamed after the steam rooms, refreshed in the pool, you lie down on one of them, grabbing water, tea or a glass of wine from the bar. To say it's a thrill is to say nothing! You can also get a massage, but such a pleasure in Europe is not for budget travelers.
There is also such a thing in German baths as aufguss. This is not another type of perversion, but just succumbing to steam rooms with various herbs and aromatic oils. They happen, like everything else in German life, according to a strict schedule. At a certain time, a specially trained person enters the steam room, pours water with all sorts of additives onto the stones, and then waves a towel towards those steaming. To be honest, we missed the aufguss on our entry, but according to reviews the feeling was very cool.
How does Aufgus pass?
The park is supplied by a special person “Saunameister” who is assigned to this. The door is opened in front of Aufgus and a large amount of fresh air is let in.
Air from the street is forced into the sauna with a towel. This saunameister then uses a towel to disperse the steam from Aufgus throughout the sauna.
The master’s movements are more reminiscent of a kind of mesmerizing dance with a towel in his hands. It's like a real show: moral, physical and aesthetic satisfaction is guaranteed!
The ceremony schedule is usually posted in each steam room. You can easily navigate by the start time of Aufgus.
It is quite difficult to say exactly how long Aufgus takes. The duration may only last 6-8 minutes, but there are also record steam outputs!
Aufgus can last more than 20 minutes. Regardless of the time, you cannot leave the sauna until the end of the ritual.
After the end of the fragrant steaming, another ceremony begins - visitors drink beer!
My experience in the thermal baths of Berlin
In general, I have never suffered from a craving for nudism (although who will believe me now), and it’s somehow not very interesting to look at others, but I really wanted to relax in a bathhouse after three days of running around Berlin. Well, since this is a local specialty, you can combine business with pleasure - take a steam bath and try something that is much talked about.
In our bathhouse you only had to undress in the steam rooms; throughout the rest of the area they wore bathrobes, and in the pool you had to wear a swimsuit. Like any normal person, undressing for the first time was awkward. It seemed to me that we would enter the steam room and everyone there was dressed, and only my friend and I were like two fools)) But no, in fact everyone was sitting or lying on the towel they had taken off.
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There is semi-darkness in the steam room and without special efforts you won’t be able to see your neighbor. The Germans themselves go to the baths often and have already seen so many naked bodies that two more can hardly surprise them. If someone looks at another person, they do it as discreetly as possible - indecent) But only those who specifically came for this will be considered - for example, Russians)) Such people are usually given away by a wild look, and you can simply stay away from them. We went to a new and quite expensive establishment, the cost of which eliminates the undesirable contingent. In general, there were few people, and often we sat in the steam room or hammam together.
Overall, we had a great time - everything in the bathhouse was very high quality and beautifully done, we steamed, swam, and at the end drank a glass of wine on the sun loungers overlooking the garden. Have a rest! As for bare features - in Germany this should be taken for granted. You can not? Then just don't go. I can't say that I like it, but it has to be done. I saw these people for the first and last time in my life. I couldn’t go with friends and colleagues like the Germans))
A man's view of German baths
Our Vanya is just from that category of people who go to a German bathhouse out of curiosity. Of course, he examined everyone, but he assures that he did it as inconspicuously as possible, so as not to confuse anyone and not to look like a fool himself. He says there were some pretty girls, but not many)
In the bathhouse where he and his friend went, you had to be naked everywhere - even in the pool.
Another difference is that their thermal baths had many more steam rooms, and the pool had access (or swimming) to the street. Their cost of visiting was lower, and therefore the contingent was simpler. There were several Turks huddled in the pool, who probably didn’t just come to take a steam bath.
In general, Vanya’s impressions are even more pleasant - he wanted to go to the German baths, he went to the baths. I think he will repeat it at the first opportunity)
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Special German sauna
The Germans do not have such a reverent attitude towards the bathhouse as the Finns or Russians. I asked my friend: “When you go into the sauna, it smells like a bathhouse. Do you feel like you’re definitely in a bathhouse?”
The sauna smells pleasant and, of course, there is a feeling that you are in a sauna. But compared to a Russian bathhouse, these are not the same feelings.
The bath complex itself is divided into two sectors. In one sector there is a shower, a swimming pool, and in the other the steam room itself.
The arrangement of the sauna is quite ordinary: shelves and the stove itself. The German sauna does not hold tanks, basins, ladles and brooms.
floor tile joint sealant
You are not allowed to wear swimming trunks or swimsuits in the German steam room. You can steam completely naked.
This is due to the Germans’ belief that synthetic fabric is not environmentally friendly; for the same reason, it is forbidden to wear flip-flops or rubber slippers in a German bathhouse. These are the rules of the pedantic Germans...
Another important rule for visiting a bathhouse is maintaining silence. You should not distract visitors from the process. Only silence, enjoyment of warm air and pleasant aromas! If one of the ignorant visitors violates this prohibition, he may even be reprimanded.
Yes, you won’t hear here: “Give it to the park,” no one grunts or groans at the shelf. Our peoples have completely different mentalities.
But they still know how to give a parka in a German bathhouse. They just do it their own way...
Regarding photos and videos in German baths
I've been surfing the Internet, and the most popular request for German baths is related to photos and videos. So, my little lovers of XXX footage, entering the bathhouse with phones is strictly prohibited, and since everyone in the steam rooms is naked, I can hardly imagine where you can hide even a small camera. Therefore, basically all the photos on the Internet are staged. And this is good, hardly anyone wants to be filmed as a souvenir.
What a German bath is really like: features, steam ceremonies and secret highlights
It is difficult to write a reliable story if you have not seen something with your own eyes. My very good friend Andrey helped me write this article about the German bath. There is no doubt about the reliability of the information; the person has been living in Germany for a very, very long time.
Fans and connoisseurs of baths and saunas speak enthusiastically about the Finnish bath. Someone says that there is nothing better than a Russian steam room. And only sophisticated connoisseurs know about the features of the German bath.
If you are going to Germany, read this article to be fully prepared and be sure to go to the bathhouse! The Germans also know a thing or two about steam rooms!
Of course, a German bathhouse is completely different from our Russian steam bath with a massive stove. This is more of a sauna, rather than a bathhouse in the full sense of the word. Although, there are some similarities, but more on that later.
Prices in Berlin baths
Now specifically about those Berlin baths in which we were.
Mine was called Liquidrom and here is its official website.
Cost of visiting the Liquidrom sauna:
- 2 hours 19.50 €
- 4 hours 24.50 €
- whole day 29.50 €
- 50 minutes of massage costs from 60 € (25 minutes 35 €)
External view of the Liquidrom sauna
Very nice pool inside
And a cozy pool outside
Vanya went to Europa-center and here is their website.
Cost of visiting the Europa-center bathhouse:
- 1 hour 6.5 €
- 3 hours 19.90 €
- day ticket 21.90 €
- evening from 8 pm to 12 on weekdays and from 6 to 9 on weekends – 17 €
- spa treatments from 50-60 € per hour (many options, including for two)
Bath complex Europa-center
Large swimming pool inside
And quite big on the outside
If you have any questions, ask! Well, share your experience if you are not shy)
Absolutely agree with every word! I am one of those who tried it and will return there not just once and not just to show myself and look at others)), but to enjoy freedom from stereotypes!
Cool experience
