Home › Sauna types › Finnish sauna
The Finnish sauna: history and tradition
The word "sauna" is Finnish – and in Finland the sauna is still part of everyday life. How it came about, what "löyly" means and how the sauna made its way to us.
Updated: September 2026 · independent guide, sources linked
Today a Finnish sauna is heated with a wood or electric heater. Which heater suits your garden sauna?
Wood or electric heater guide →At a glance
| Origin | Finland |
|---|---|
| Temperature | usually 80–90 °C, 80–110 °C possible |
| Air | dry, briefly humid when water is thrown (löyly) |
| Heating | heater with stones (kiuas): wood, electric or smoke sauna |
| Heritage | UNESCO, since 17 December 2020 |
Where the sauna comes from
"Sauna" is an ancient Finnish word. It refers both to the bath and to the building. The earliest Finnish saunas were pits dug into a slope that also served as winter dwellings. Later came log cabins heated by a pile of stones – the smoke sauna, as shown in Eero Järnefelt's painting above.
For a long time the sauna was more than a bath: it was the room with hot water and was considered especially clean. According to tradition, the sauna was the first building put up on a new farm, and children were born there.
History at a glance
- Early timesPits dug into a slope, also used as winter dwellings.
- Smoke saunaLog cabin without a chimney: a pile of stones is heated with wood for hours, then the smoke is let out.
- Chimney saunaA stove with a chimney makes heating easier – the wood-fired sauna.
- 1936The Olympic Village of the Berlin Games has a sauna.
- 1938The first factory-made electric sauna heater is produced in Finland – the start of the electric sauna.
- After 1945The sauna spreads in Germany and Austria; the German Sauna Association is founded in 1949.
- From the 1950sPublic saunas largely disappear from Finnish cities – today new ones are being built again.
- 2020On 17 December, Finnish sauna culture is inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.
Löyly: the steam
The heart of the Finnish sauna is löyly – the steam released when water is thrown onto the hot stones of the heater (kiuas). UNESCO describes sauna culture as a combination of physical cleansing and spiritual renewal. Which heater you use – wood, electric or smoke – is secondary: the tradition knows no "more authentic" sauna.
The sauna in numbers
According to the UNESCO nomination, Finland has around 3.3 million saunas for 5.5 million inhabitants. Knowledge and customs are passed on mainly within families, at universities and in sauna clubs.
A Finnish sauna in your garden
Almost all garden saunas in Switzerland are Finnish saunas: dry heat around 80 to 90 °C, with water thrown on the stones. The shape is up to you – a compact barrel sauna or a sauna cabin with a changing room. The heater is what matters: read our comparison of wood and electric heaters and check the building permit rules in your canton early.
For a sauna in the garden, each canton handles the building permit differently, for example St. Gallen, Ticino and Valais. All 26 cantons: Building permit.
Today a Finnish sauna is heated with a wood or electric heater. Which heater suits your garden sauna?
Wood or electric heater guide →More sauna types: Smoke sauna · Wood-fired sauna · Electric sauna · Barrel sauna · Sauna cabin · Infrared sauna · Bio sauna · Steam room · Kelo sauna · Kota sauna · Mobile sauna
Sweat baths of other cultures: Banya (Eastern Europe) · Roman baths · Hammam · Sweat lodge (North America) · Temazcal (Mesoamerica) · Qargi (Yup'ik & Inuit) · Steppe nomads (Scythians) · Hanjeungmak (Korea) · Mushiburo (Japan) · Sweathouses (Ireland)
Compare quotes from your region
Describe your project once – up to 3 suitable suppliers will contact you. Free and without obligation.