Sauna & Bathing
In the near future Tammisaari, our idyllic old town, is going to see something completely new and exciting as far as one for us Finns pretty familiar relaxing and rejuvenating activity is concerned: we are talking about sauna, the Finnish temple of well-being – something that is proven to be conducive to health both of your body and mind. A fine sauna and bathing facility will be opened within the property Gamla Bastun (GB2) rather soon.
Traditions in sauna culture go beyond one hundred years in this very location. Below just a few milestones to refresh our memory about the eventful and unusually long history of bathing practices within the facility named Ekenäs Badinrättning:
During the operational year 1904 the treatments at Ekenäs bathing facilities included steam bath cabins, showers, bathtubs, mud baths, pine needle baths and so called Neuheimer baths, among others. Bathing rooms for the town’s working class were open on Saturdays exclusively.
During the summer of 1917 the bathing facility’s list of treatments grew to include such exotic and bygone variants as carbonation and turpentine baths (?!). During the month of July the facility ordered three thousand fresh birch whisks to meet the sauna bathing requirements of its clients. In the spring of 1922 the township of Ekenäs decided to buy the facility from Mr. Höijer. After the deal the building went through a total renovation. The pupils at the town’s elementary school were given the opportunity to have sauna at the facility once a month as well before Christmas.
In 1926 the building was again thoroughly refurbished, which led, among other things, to removing the gentlemen’s’ department to the second floor. The brand new treatments embraced electric baths, UV light treatments along with electric skin treatments (known as diathermy or deep heating). Two years later the facility finally acquired a genuine Finnish sauna. In 1932 the facility offered the clients the services of its own physician by the name Einar Runeberg.
During the so called Winter War against the Soviet Union (1939-40) and the Continuation War (1941-44) the visiting guests were requested to take with them their own soap due to the ongoing wartime rationing. In 1949 the bathing days for the ladies were on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while the corresponding day for the gentlemen were Thursdays and Fridays. Ekenäs Badinrättning served as the township’s public bathing facility until the very late 1960s.
These services will be available upon the completion of the project.