Once inside the unassuming building near downtown Hamburg, a woman greeted us, and I realized this would be my first coed bathhouse experience. After we changed into our bathing suits, we were shown to the main room, where we bathed by pouring warm water from a bucket using bronze bowls.
We were then instructed to lay down on a raised heated marble platform in the middle of the room, which we shared silently with two women and another man. After roasting on our backs, we splashed water on the platform before turning on our stomachs. When a female masseuse became available, Hans went with her to a white marble table while I prayed for a male masseuse. A tall, slender exchange student from Tunisia was the divine answer to my prayer. Self, whose name is Arabic for sword , was a near-literal interpretation of his name.
A mechanical-engineering student at the local university, this was his part-time job to earn spending money. After pouring warm soapy water all over my body, I was scrubbed by what felt like a loofah. He then inflated something like a small pillowcase, pressing it against my body and squeezing out the air.
Billions of bubbles felt like tiny kisses against my skin. Next, he rubbed my body with a cloth. It was luxurious, sensuous, and incredible. Have I mentioned that the massage had not started yet? Twenty minutes later, I staggered like a rag doll to an outdoor patio overlooking a walled garden. After sipping a cool tea, I realized that I was no longer jetlagged. As I enjoyed my newly relaxed body and mind, I began to ruminate on the baths and their history. While in Vienna on a previous trip, I visited the Roman ruins at Carnuntum, a first-century military camp for 50, men on the banks of the Danube.
The bathhouse was one of the first structures built, followed by a latrine for 60, each connected to running water. Here, Roman citizens of all social classesβyoung and old, rich and poor, free and slaveβwould mix freely after work, sharing the daily ritual of the baths. Photo: Courtesy Dick Dace. Guest Contributor August 18, 3, 4 minutes read.
