The Ambassador of Norway in Estonia, Mr. Marius Dirdal, is taking part in the European Sauna Marathon in Otepää this year as part of a highly specialized Norwegian team. Last year, the ambassador participated together with his U.S. colleague in a Norwegian-American joint embassy team.

“This year, I wanted to focus on what Estonia and Norway has in common”, said the ambassador. “I partly grew up in Northern Norway, close to Finland, in a town that was influenced by the Kven and Finnish culture. In my family, we didn’t have our own sauna, but going to the common sauna became a natural part of life. The sauna culture is something that brings Norway and Estonia closer together”.

Oslo – the new sauna capital?

This year, the ambassador has invited Norwegian sauna enthusiasts from the Oslo Sauna Association, a non-profit membership organization behind the recent sauna wave in Norway. Four representatives of the Oslo Sauna Association, including its Secretary General Ragna Marie Fjeld, will join the ambassador and representatives of the Norwegian community in Estonia to take part in the Sauna Marathon.

“Norway is experiencing a surge in the use of saunas. Oslo has already been called the new sauna capital of the world, even by some Finnish media. Although Norway doesn’t have quite as strong sauna traditions as Finland and Estonia, the sauna, or “bath house”, has dep roots in our country too”, says Ragna Marie Fjeld of the Oslo Sauna Association. “Currently, many Norwegians are re-discovering the old sauna traditions as well as the health benefits of the hot sauna and cold dips.”

Oslo Sauna Association has initiated the building of a number of saunas for public use around the Norwegian capital, including several floating saunas on the Oslo Fjord.

“The floating saunas, accessible from the very city center, has a particular attraction for locals and tourists alike”, said the Secretary General.

Oslo Sauna Association is in itself an expression of the bottom-up development of a new sauna culture in Norway. The association is a membership organization that builds and runs saunas which are open to its members and can be rented out to others too – a non-profit organization that exists to develop the sauna culture in the Norwegian capital and give ordinary people an opportunity to enjoy the pleasure and health-benefits of saunas and cold water.

Several Norwegian teams in the Sauna Marathon

Last year, the Norwegian ambassador came across many more Norwegians who took part in the sauna marathon. “We met at least two Norwegian teams last year”, remembered ambassador Dirdal. “And as soon as I started gathering an “official” Norwegian team for this year, it turned out that many people were interested, so we had to organize the “official” representatives in two teams for the competition”.

The team members are: The ambassador and an intern of the Norwegian embassy in Tallinn, the secretary general and 3 more staff members from Oslo Sauna Association, an officer of the Norwegian Air Force currently residing at the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, and a Norwegian representative at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence in Tallinn.