Behind the scenes30 SEPTEMBER 2026
Reserve your spot in advance for your visit and celebrate this tradition with us. We'll be sharing more about the weekend on our website soon.
Steam rises from the hot stones. Water hisses, a towel moves air through the cabin and the heat slowly settles over your shoulders. For a moment, there is nothing else but this.
This is what an Aufguss feels like at Saré, for 25 years now. What once began in a small cabin, grew into a tradition where heat, scent and attention come together.
During an Aufguss, also called an infusion in English, the Aufgusser pours water with scent concentrate onto the hot sauna stones. With rhythmic movements of a towel, the Aufgusser spreads the warm, fragrant air through the cabin. The heat becomes more intense and the scent fills the space. Music can enhance the experience, but silence belongs there just as much.
The temperature doesn't tell the whole story. During an Aufguss, humidity can rise significantly and warm, humid air moves across your skin. This makes the heat feel more intense, even if the air temperature remains the same or drops slightly for a moment.
Henry and Leo were there from the very beginning. With them, we look back on 25 years of Aufguss at Saré and discover what makes this tradition still so special after all these years.
After a fire, around the year 2000, guests asked for Aufguss. In Germany, the practice was already known and interest grew here too. Henry was involved with Saré from its opening, especially for technical work and repairs. Owner Ruud planned to take an Aufguss course with him in Geldern, just near Venlo, but ultimately couldn't make it. Henry went anyway, together with Arnold Schoonebeek from De Waterlelie.
Not long after, the first Aufguss took place in a small cabin on the spot where the meditation and sound bowl cabin now stands. There was room for about five guests and much still had to be tried out. Henry even sawed a plastic ball in half to be able to move the air around.
Leo also remembers that cabin well. He was a regular guest at Saré and was looking for something new after he had given up his part-time job on Friday evenings. When Saré was looking for people who wanted to give Aufguss, he signed up. Henry taught him the tricks of the trade. Together with Jan, who has since retired, Henry and Leo formed the first three Aufgussers. Shortly after, Erwin joined them.
"It was super friendly," Leo recalls. "You saw people's faces up close. I think you could compare it to giving a very intimate concert, rather than a show in a large hall."
Interest grew quickly. Guests enjoyed coming to the sessions and soon there was a desire to offer Aufguss more frequently throughout the day. Henry trained new people and created schedules, so that more and more sessions could take place.
The small cabin had something intimate about it, but eventually became too cramped. Around 2005, the current Aufguss cabin came into being, inspired by a sauna that Henry and his colleagues had seen together in Germany. There too, the experience of heat remained an important starting point: a compact space where the heat is clearly felt and guests experience it up close.
What started with a handful of enthusiasts, grew into a fixed tradition at Saré. By now, Aufguss is an indispensable part of our wellness experience.
Saré played an important role in the development of Aufguss in the Netherlands. Other wellness locations came to see how it was done here and Henry and his colleagues also helped establish Aufguss elsewhere. Interest grew, courses and competitions emerged and increasingly different styles developed.
Henry and Leo also participated in competitions. In 2008, Leo became Dutch champion and Henry finished in second place. Later, more great results followed. Yet for them, the guest's experience remained most important. Aufguss always went beyond a technique or a title; it was about what happened in the cabin and what guests took away from it.
In 25 years, many different styles have emerged, from intimate rituals to impressive experiences in large sauna theaters. Each form has its own character and appeals to guests in different ways.
At Saré, it's about the power of simplicity: the heat your body feels, the scent that stimulates your senses and the air that moves around you. Music can enhance the experience, as can carefully built intensity. But ultimately, it's about what happens in that moment, in the cabin and within yourself.
"I've always thought: a quarter hour in balance," says Henry. "Scent, music and silence in a cabin. That's what matters most to me."
A good Aufguss, according to him, is not about the highest possible temperature, but about a sense of balance. How much water do you use, which scent fits the moment and how do you move the air through the cabin? The build-up of heat also requires attention, so that guests can experience the intensity comfortably. You don't learn this only from a book, but especially through experience and by carefully sensing what is happening in the cabin.
The basis of Aufguss has remained recognizable over the years, but each Aufgusser takes guests along in their own way. Henry creates his own music mixes and looks for the right combination of music, scent and heat. For him, the power lies in the balance and the atmosphere it creates.
Leo likes to take guests to another place, without them having to leave the sauna. Scents, music and a story are sometimes enough to set the imagination to work. Once, he took guests on an imaginary journey to Australia. After it was over, a guest told him it felt like they had actually been on a trip.
In the past, Leo, together with his brother Paul, also gave an Aufguss with the Top Gun theme, where clothing helped reinforce the story. Yet for him, the essence lies not in what you see, but in what you experience. "For me, it's beautiful when you can really take people along on a journey." With the right scents, music and a bit of imagination, you can briefly lift someone out of the everyday.
For Leo, it starts with a good ritual in which the different elements reinforce each other. Within that, there is room for personal interpretation, as long as the focus remains on the experience itself.
After all these years, Henry and Leo still give Aufguss with pleasure. Henry finds it wonderful when guests show after the session that they have enjoyed it. Sometimes they ask, for example, which music he used. For him, these are small moments that show that a session has moved something.
Leo gets energy from a full cabin. He feels the attention of the guests and notices that this energy helps him to give his all as well. Nowadays he gives an Aufguss about once every four weeks. He could do it more often, but also likes to make room for other Aufgussers.
For both of them, the guest remains central. Good technique, pleasant scents, the right amount of water and pleasant air circulation form the basis. Beyond that, pleasure in the craft and attention to the people in the cabin are essential. Henry hopes that future Aufgussers will above all keep enjoying what they do. It should not become a mandatory number, but something you stand behind yourself and in which you gladly take your guests along.
Leo also emphasizes the importance of the basics: good scents, the right amount of water and good technique with the towel. According to him, it doesn't need to become increasingly extreme or hotter to make an impression. It is precisely by paying attention to the details that an Aufguss can become a special experience.
After 25 years, Aufguss at Saré is still in motion. New ideas emerge, people develop their own style and guests continually discover anew what a session does for them. At the same time, the basics remain familiar: a moment in which warmth, scent and air come together and you don't need to be anywhere else.
Perhaps that is the art of leaving things out. Not constantly adding more, but consciously choosing what truly makes an experience better. Making room for silence, for the warmth and for what you yourself feel. A quarter hour in which you don't need to follow or achieve anything, but simply may experience.
Twenty-five years of Aufguss is a beautiful milestone to reflect on and celebrate together. From Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 1, we celebrate this jubilee with a special experience weekend. You can expect various Aufgusses and other sauna rituals, complemented by small surprises that make these days just a little bit different.
We're working behind the scenes on the program and will tell you more soon. Keep an eye on our website and celebrate this special tradition with us.
Would you like to join us? Reserve your wellness day at Saré now.
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