History of Sauna
The Saunas have been here for a long time, the earliest known saunas are found in the Finnish history around 2000 BC, although, many other European countries also lay claim to using the sauna during that time. The africans were also known to use a version of the sauna around this time, but they used it mainly to treat people with sickness to cure them of infectious diseases.
Caves were the ideal structures to house early saunas. A pit filled with burning wood was covered with stones, effectively heating them. When water was poured on it, the steam generated filled up the whole cave, animal skins were used to seal the entrances to prevent the steam from escaping.
Early saunas were used as hospitals, restrooms or any other place where sanitation was beneficial. Saunas were also used as birthing places. The hot steam from the saunas served as a place of disinfection as the heat produced effectively killed all the bacteria and virus. Saunas therefore became a distinct heritage and eventually became a lore.
Interestingly, saunas being a place for gathering and socialising, led them to be places of worship. This coupled with the feeling of sense and calm felt in the sauna, gave the sauna a religious/ spiritual connection, making it almost magical.
As time passed, people started building special structures to make saunas, these places served as venues where people gathered socially while enjoying the health benefits the sauna has to offer. It can be said that the saunas slowly turned into bathhouses during this time. However, spread of science and push towards modernisation slowly pushed the saunas and bathhouses out of fashion and they started to disappear.
It was the finnish settlers in Delaware who brought the sauna to America around the mid 1600s. But their popularity declined in the Americas as well during the 1800s for pretty much the same reasons as Europe. After the industrial revolution however, the saunas slowly came back into popularity, again thanks to the finnish, who invented the first electric saunas. The popularity of the sauna grew in the 1950s with the invention of the electric stoves (which followed pretty much the same heating principle as the electric saunas).
The late 1980s saw a push towards the age old wood burning saunas as the health benefits of the stone and water generated steam came back into knowledge and fashion.
Today the saunas are popular and well known for not just the socialising and relaxational aspects but for the numerous health benefits as well.
It is interesting to see how the finnish have contributed time and again to the invention, sustainability and popularity of the sauna. It is therefore fitting to note that the word Sauna (pronounced Sau as in ‘cow’ and na as in ‘nah’) is the only finnish word in the English dictionary which is said to mean bathhouse.
