Resurrecting The Schvitz
From its origins as a Jewish Community center in the 1920s to a mafia hangout under FBI surveillance in the 1960s, Detroit’s storied bathhouse, The Schvitz, has a racy past. Eight years ago Paddy Lynch, a third-generation funeral director and Schvitz regular, set about rebuilding the Schvitz and its community.
CULTURE OF BATHING: How did you first discover the Schvitz?
PADDY LYNCH: I’d always seen this strange grey building – it’s kind of mythical locally – but I’d never been inside. One day my friend Ara suggested we try it. We were smoking a joint in the car and I'm like, are we really going in there? Back then it was a men's club. The exception was Saturday night which was swingers night. I tell you it wasn't like Tom Brady and Gisele, it was more like your aunt and uncle.
We buzzed in. It was dingy, it did not smell great. We go down the hallway and there’s 10 or 12 old Russian and Jewish guys eating steak, drinking vodka, and smoking joints in their robes. We were like, holy shit, THIS is in our neighbourhood!
At that point I was in my late 20s, and I was at a crossroads. Funeral service, you can imagine, can be quite sad and stressful. I remember dealing with suicide, overdose, and dead babies. Once I discovered the Schvitz, it became like a sanctuary for me.
“The thing about the baths is it’s private. When you're in a 210-degree room, you can't wear a weapon or a wire.”
CoB: How did you make the leap from Schvitz regular to Schvitz owner?
PADDY: Fast forward, three or four years and I was in New York with a couple of friends. One of them asked if I’d been to the Russian & Turkish Baths.
It was the first time I had experienced men and women sharing the space, old, young, black, white, totally diverse cosmopolitan New York. Not just a bunch of old guys. My eyes were opened. I remember leaving the Russian & Turkish baths and calling Daniel aka Dima, who was the Schvitz’s Soviet caretaker and asking ‘Is it true the Schvitz is for sale?’
“One reason why I didn't end up in the Detroit River is I didn't mess with the men's nights.”
CoB: How did you set about the resurrection?
PADDY: In the early days, it was restoration by subtraction. The carpet had to go. We ripped it up and exposed these gorgeous black and white tiled floors. Then we ripped out the drop ceiling – it was bad, a century of smoke and other DNA - and exposed this gorgeous tin ceiling.
We moved on to what they called the movie room, but it was a porno/orgy room. We ripped down the curtains, threw away all the weird furniture, and then we noticed that the floorboards were different. We do a little digging, and we discovered a mikvah underneath [a bath traditionally used for Jewish purification rituals].
The Schvitz was originally the Jewish community center. Then in 1930 the Meltzer family, who were affiliated with the Purple Gang, the Russian Jewish mafia of Detroit, took control of the building and converted it to a bath house. The Russian Jews wanted the baths for religious and cultural reasons, but also because it’s private, when you're in a 210-degree room, you can't wear a weapon or a wire.
The same family held it until 1975. It was under FBI surveillance through the 60s because after prohibition they moved into racketeering and high-stakes gambling. You name it, they did it all.
CoB: As well as the building, the clientele has changed. How did this happen?
PADDY: Once we got rid of swingers night, we had all these free nights to work with. The trick was balancing the history and the future. One of the reasons why I didn't end up in the Detroit River is I didn't mess with the men's nights. I left them totally alone.
One of the most important things we did was establish women-only hours. Some people think it was this really progressive move. But in fact, if you go back to the early gangster days, Grandma Meltzer, who ran the kitchen, would kick out all the men one day a week and let the women have the place to themselves.
“I always tell people I'm like a steward. The Schvitz existed long before me and, God willing, it will exist long after me.”
The key was getting in as many different communities as we could. We opened up the doors to all kinds of people that we felt like would not only enjoy the heat but would enjoy it as a community center. We let artists use the ballroom for exhibitions. We let musicians come in and do sound baths. We let AA groups use the space. We gave deals to vets. We just tried to bring in as many people as we could. At the start we were lucky to get 30 to 40 people a day. Last month we averaged 175.
I always tell people I'm like a steward. The Schvitz existed long before me, and God willing, it will exist long after me.
Mobsters and Motza Balls
We tapped our CoB community for suggestions of other historic bathhouses in North America - thanks to Alan Jalasjaa and Frederika Adam.
Dillon’s Russian Steam Bath has been a Boston staple since 1885, offering intense heat, traditional platza treatments, and an old-school, no-frills atmosphere. Now a woman-owned business, sweat it out, cool off, and unwind like generations before you.
The Division Street Baths was once frequented by Al Capone and Reverend Jesse Jackson - although not at the same time. Now renovated and reopened as Chicago Bath House.
The Ambassador Club in Toronto, a Russian-style bathhouse seemingly unchanged since the 1960s, features extreme heat and minimal online presence. “You’ll either love it or hate it, the banyas there are medieval.”
You’ve heard it from us before, but we can’t omit New York’s OG – the Russian & Turkish Baths established in 1892.
Sailing into National Sauna Week
To celebrate National Sauna Week, February 16 - 22, The Sauna Channel is releasing Sailing & Saunas: A Journey Through The Finnish Archipelago. The series follows a group of friends on a dreamy voyage to remote saunas where they discover the transformative power of löyly. Tune in each day to see a new episode.
Don’t forget the online talks program and discounts on bathing at partner saunas across the country.
Bathing in the news
“To understand how heart-shaped bathtubs went from kitsch to cringe and ended up in a parking lot, look at the evolution of romance in the United States.” Love in This Tub
New York Times, February 11, 2025
“Just being around others, sweating together, creates a sense of community”. CoB’s Robert Hammond quoted in Bathhouses, Saunas, and the New Culture of Bathing.
Architectural Digest, February 7, 2025
What we lost and what we’re finding again: A new era of social bathing
The Taos News, February 13, 2025
The 5 Best Hammams in Istanbul
Condé Nast Traveler, February 7, 2025
One last thing
“The best bonkers spa I’ve ever been to” - an architecture critic on the wonder of Andorra’s Caldea spa designed by Jean-Michel Ruols in 1994.
We’d love to hear from you - please send a DM, or email hello@cultureofbathing.com
holy shit, this is incredible. the timing is perfect, as well, because I am planning a drive back from the midwest to the northeast, and now it is very clear i have to go through detroit. ❤️🔥
interesting! I learned to love bath houses on a week in Budapest, Hungary. It was at the end of a 4 week trip to Europe with a study abroad art group. I was in my 50s as a non traditional art student with the University. We hiked across the chain bridge every evening (crossing the Danube!) and went to a few of the ancient baths there. One had an updated wave pool outside. They were built by the Moors back in the day. There were communal swimming pools but separated saunas, hot pools and ice plunges. A lovely way to end a whirlwind trip.