The Laugh in the Deep Blue: The Enchanting Legend of the Beautiful Lau
Anyone traveling through the Swabian Jurassic Valley to Blaubeuren can hardly believe their eyes. At the foot of the Swabian Alb rocks sits the Blautopf—a karst spring whose water glows in such an incomprehensibly intense turquoise blue, it looks as though someone dumped a giant load of ink into it.
Yet this shimmering blue has no chemical origin. It is the legacy of one of the most romantic, hilarious, and touching legends in Swabian history: The Tale of the Beautiful Lau!
A Mermaid in Exile and a Royal Relationship Spat
Deep in the Black Sea, a powerful Water King once ruled. His consort was the Beautiful Lau—a breath-takingly gorgeous mermaid with long, flowing hair and enchanting features.
However, despite her breathtaking beauty, a dark shadow hung over her marriage. The Beautiful Lau was terribly melancholic, gave birth only to stillborn children, and had not laughed a single time in her entire life. No jokes, no smiles—not even a weary smirk.
The Water King—driven to the brink of desperation—finally made a drastic decision. He banished his melancholic wife to the German hinterland, specifically into the bottomless Blautopf in the Swabian Alb.
His parting words were crystal clear: “You shall only return to the Black Sea and bear me an heir once you have laughed five times from the bottom of your heart!”
A Herculean task for a mermaid who had hitherto always been dead serious about everything.
Luxury Living at the Bottom of the Blautopf
Upon arriving at the Blautopf, the Lau made herself right at home at the bottom of the deep cave. Instead of wallowing in gloom, she built herself a palatial glass castle underwater, complete with carpets woven from the finest algae and walls made of sparkling rock crystal.
Whenever the sunlight hit just right, she swam up to the surface and peeked curiously at the small town of Blaubeuren. The locals were scared out of their wits by the mysterious mermaid. Whenever someone tried to measure the depth of the Blautopf using a lead weight on a string, the Lau would snatch the cord, snip off the weight, and giggle (though not quite laughing out loud yet!) from below.
Yet even the most beautiful underwater palace couldn’t cure her loneliness. The Beautiful Lau needed company—real, human company!
The Innkeeper and a Swabian Crash Course in Humor
Right next to the Blautopf stood the monastery tavern, run by the warm-hearted innkeeper, Betha. When the innkeeper sat by the shore washing vegetables one day, the pretty mermaid cautiously popped her head out of the water.
What began as a fright quickly bloomed into a wonderful female friendship. Betha invited the Lau into her cozy parlor. However, since the mermaid didn’t have human legs but an elegant fish tail, she swam through the underground drainage pipe straight into the cauldron of the tavern kitchen!
The innkeeper bought her new friend lovely dresses, fed her hearty Swabian Maultaschen (stuffed pasta dumplings), and tried desperately to cheer up the sad water lady.
Laugh No. 1: When the innkeeper put a colorful corset on the mermaid, and the Lau saw herself in the mirror looking absurd as a half-fish in traditional Swabian attire, she let out her first snicker. The water in the Blautopf immediately turned a bright, joyful azure!
Laughs No. 2 & 3: Watching the locals perform traditional folk dances and listening to the tavern maid’s endless banter coaxed the next chuckles out of her throat.
Laugh No. 4: When the innkeeper stumbled after a few cups of wine and sailed in a high arc into the flour bin—stack of wooden plates in hand—the Lau bent over laughing.
The Redeeming Fifth Laugh
Only one final laugh was needed for her freedom! Destiny struck when the innkeeper’s young son was playing by the shore and accidentally dropped his wooden spinning top into the deepest water.
He burst into bitter tears. The Lau surfaced, retrieved the top from the depths, and made the toy dance wildly across the water’s surface. The boy clapped his hands in delight, made a silly leap of joy, and tumbled backward into the soft moss.
And then it happened: The Beautiful Lau clapped her hands over her face and burst into a liberating, bell-clear, and genuine laugh that echoed through the entire valley! The spell was broken.
The Happy Ending in the Black Sea
The Beautiful Lau bade a tearful, grateful farewell to the innkeeper and the people of Blaubeuren. As a token of her gratitude, she left behind precious treasures from her palace before slipping back through the deep cave tunnels toward the Black Sea.
There, she embraced her Water King, soon bore him healthy heirs, and never forgot how to laugh again.
When you stand by the Blautopf today and see the water glowing so magically, you’ll know for sure: It is the memory of the most beautiful laugh in the Swabian Alb!