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The sauna has rules
Most German gyms and public pools have a sauna, and the conventions differ sharply from what visitors expect. It is used naked — swimwear is not permitted, because the chlorine and fibres are considered unhygienic in the heat — and you sit or lie on a towel with every part of you on it, including your feet. Most saunas are mixed, though many places have one women-only day a week. You shower before going in, and silence is expected inside; conversation, phones and anything resembling a social occasion belong in the rest area outside. The centrepiece is the Aufguss, at fixed times: an attendant pours scented water on the stones and circulates the steam with a towel, and people applaud at the end. None of this is remotely sexual and treating it as though it were is the one genuine faux pas. For a newcomer the honest advice is that the first five minutes are strange and the rest is not, and that a towel and a pair of flip-flops are all the equipment anyone needs.