|
The Blautopf (German for ''Blue Pot''; "blau" means ''blue'', "topf" means ''pot'') is a spring that serves as the source of the river Blau in the karst landscape on the Swabian Jura's southern edge, in Southern Germany. It is located in the city of Blaubeuren, approximately west of Ulm. It forms the drain for the Blau cave system and feeds the river Blau, which after , flows into the river Danube in the city of Ulm. Because of its high water pressure, the spring has developed a funnel-like shape, which at its deepest point has a depth of 21 metres (69 ft). The water's peculiarly blue color, varying in intensity due to weather and flow, is the result of chemical properties of limestone densely distributed in the water. ==Legends== Numerous legends and folk tales refer to the Blautopf. Its characteristic colour was explained by the account that every day someone would pour a vat of ink into the Blautopf. Another myth stated that every time someone tried to measure the Blautopf's depth with a leaden sounding line, a water nix stole the sounding line. Therefore, it was not possible to determine the depth of the Blautopf. Because of this tale, there is a rock called ''Klötzle Blei'' ("little block of lead" in the local dialect) in the vicinity of the Blautopf. A well-known tongue-twister in the Swabian dialect told to local children, refers to this rock: :''Glei bei Blaubeira leit a Kletzle Blei'' - :''´s leit a Kletzle Blei glei bei Blaubeira'' Standard High German: :''Gleich bei Blaubeuren liegt ein Klötzchen Blei'' - :''Es liegt ein Klötzchen Blei gleich bei Blaubeuren'' English Translation: :''Near Blaubeuren, there lies a block of lead'' - :''There lies a block of lead near Blaubeuren'' The novelist and poet Eduard Mörike incorporated this folklore and other tales into the romantic novella ''Das Stuttgarter Hutzelmännlein''. They were woven into the background story of a journeyman travelling from Stuttgart to Blaubeuren. In particular, the story of the ''Schöne Lau'', a mermaid, and her husband, a male water-nix from the Black Sea, is told in great detail. Because the Schöne Lau could not laugh, the nix punished her by confining her to the Blautopf, and only allowing her to have still-born children. He would only allow her to return and give birth to a living child once she had laughed five times. In the end, the landlady of the inn ''Nonnenhof'' came to her aid. ''(The complete German text is available at (Eduard Mörike: Die Schöne Lau ).)'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Blautopf」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|