This one’s tricky to explain, so hear me out. You and several others are in a super-sized sauna. You’re naked. A sauna master, clad in theatrical garms, throws spheres of ice, infused with essential oils, on the rocks. It’s 82.5°C. The steam rises. Said master then wafts the evaporating aromas into your face using a host of acrobatic towel twirls that call on the skills of a nunchucking ninja. There’s music and a light show; there are props and a storyline. But, most importantly, there’s a moral teaching to take home.
This, friends, is aufguss. And, permitting you’re happy in your birthday suit, it’s a hoot. Because beyond the sensorial blast, it transforms you from a silent, sedentary sweatosaurus into an active participant, clapping and whistling as part of the performance. Wafting salubrious smells has been a mainstay of sauna culture in central and northern Europe for a hundred years. But am-dram aufguss – with its narrative arcs and emotive scores – is a millennial invention, created by the saunarati of Italy’s Sud Tyrol region.
I visited recently, staying at the five-star, adults-only Preidlhof in Naturno. It’s part of the Dolce Vita Collection, all polished spa destinations and early adopters of performative aufguss. Preidlhof’s 5,500 square metre spa comes with seven pools and a six-story Sauna Tower, with views that puts a valley of apple orchards and the distant Ortler Mountains into wistful focus. Luxury seldom veers into anything too outré, so to mix steam theatre with rental Porsches and Michelin-star tasting menus seemed a refreshing concept. I was excited.
And then I was terrified. Arriving late to a near-boiling amphitheatre packed with punctual Europeans in the nip will do that. Coy and English and clutching my tiny towel, I scurried to the last sweltering spot on the top bench. The first performance of today’s trifecta was a retelling of the 19th-century ballet Coppélia, where a character of the Geppetto mould creates a life-like dancing doll that a village boy falls for. A fable on the perils of obsession and the power of love. The cast: aufguss super duo Michael Niedermair and Kasia Klajn.
The pair met in a sauna in 2018 and now have a three-year old daughter. Besides hosting regular aufguss sessions at the Dolce Vita hotels, they teach budding steam weavers to become masters just like them. Michael, a local lad, is the current men’s aufguss world champion; Polish Kasia is a former doubles gold medallist. I was about to experience peak aufguss.
Kasia’s theatre and dance training came into full swing as the mechanical doll and her props added something pleasingly panto. Michael’s strength is with the towel, swinging it around like some kind of pizzaiolo. Various essential oils, all natural and local, were ferried into our nostrils while the score swung from classical for the acting bits, to jacked-up dubstep when Michael spun.
What a scene: two fancy-dress athletes mixing drama and wellness for a room of interim nudists, some of whom were clearly wilting in the heat. For those who might find normal sauna a little slow going, it is awfully stimulating. The show’s 20-minute running time felt just right. I began thinking “this needs to end soon” and then the doors flung open. The relief from the heat punctuated the Disney ending, leaving me feeling rather uplifted on the way out. I jumped into the openair cold plunge, with its stupefying views, and tried to process what had just happened.
South Tyrol is a singular place: half pasta, half schnitzel; officially Italian, with a German mother tongue. It makes for a funny, functional muddle. But it works. Even Preidlhof’s interiors are fetchingly contrary: hot-pink post industrial meets trad alpine chic. The meld that matters, though, is the sensible sauna culture of middle Europe with Italy’s sensual flare. “Aufguss tells the story of the people,” Michael later told me.
Round two. Kasia, on her own this time, in Anne of Green Gables. A wig, culottes and zero irony. The crowd had warmed up, so to speak, and we started clapping to the beat. My girlfriend, a known prude, was suddenly at one with her new no-clothes lifestyle and particularly enjoyed the various narrative-matched essential oils. “Peppermint suggests a fresh start for Anne!" said Kasia in the bar that evening.
Dolce Vita’s hotel hop concept allows guests to use any of the five properties’ facilities, so I waited a day and went to see Michael’s solo show, 7even, at nearby Lindenhof. Inspired by the Brad Pitt movie and local folklore, he dressed as a goblin that embodied sin, while a mannequin of mother nature signalled salvation. I think. Sage, juniper and smoky birch bark circulated as Michael threw two towels in the air at once and pirouetted before catching them behind his back. “You must choose between good and bad, light and dark,” he concluded.
There’s something a little Eurovision about it all: embracing the art and aphorisms certainly requires you to park your Britishness (read: sarcastic, snooty) at the door – next to your pants. But it’s an impressive show and I’ve (sadly, perhaps) never had more fun in a sauna.
Aufguss arrived in the UK in 2022 and we hosted our first national championships last year. Entrants included a skit on Boris Johnson: he saw the light, spoke to Attenborough, and became an eco-warrior. “Spas in the UK often have a ‘prosecco-with-the-girls’ feel to them,” says Gabrielle Reason, secretary of the British Sauna Society. “Aufguss brings a madcap quality to things and that somehow feels a bit more inclusive.”
On returning, I paid the Sauna Social Club in Peckham a visit to compare notes. Their aufguss, to my surprise, was rather more tranquil. Cozzie on, no jazz hands. Though, there were DJs playing outside, with a bar selling no-and-low cocktails. Very London and perfectly nice, but where was the Eurovision spectacle and the crowd hooting in the nude? Give me Katrina and the Heatwaves any day.
The best places to experience aufguss in Europe
AIRE Ancient Baths, Spain
Candlelit and subterranean, Barcelona’s best spa blends Roman-style bathing with expert-led aufguss sessions. Don’t miss its Himalayan salt sauna, which hosts beautifully choreographed infusions, mixing aromatic steam and meditative rituals.
Website: beaire.com
Therme București, Romania
A tropical-themed wellness complex with a mighty aufguss programme. Skilled ‘saunameisters’ deliver multi-sensory experiences using essential oils, music and icy towel whipping. Also home to Romania's largest botanical garden, with over 800,000 plants.
Website: therme.ro
Aqua Dome, Austria
Imagine sweating it out in a glass-walled sauna, while snow falls outside and the Alps loom in the distance. The varied aufguss sessions – from traditional to theatrical – certainly take full advantage of the setting. Don’t miss the huge martini-glass-shaped outdoor mineral pool.
Website: aqua-dome.at