1972 1980 Charlotte Eisler nee Thiede
The Fairy Tale of the Beautiful Lau A poet's fairy tale by Eduard Mörike
The legend of the beautiful Lau tells of a Stuttgart shoemaker's apprentice, traveling the land with his magical shoes, who encounters the beautiful Lau, a water nymph, at the Blautopf spring. This woman, the wife of a water king in the Black Sea, had been banished to the Blautopf because she was unable to bear live children. Through contact with the people of Blaubeuren, she learned to laugh again, which freed her from her curse and allowed her to return to her husband.A monument to the beautiful Lau has been erected at the Blautopf, right by the hammer mill, created by the sculptor Fritz von Graevenitz .
"At the very bottom of the Blautopf spring once sat a water nymph with long, flowing hair. Her body was everywhere like that of a beautiful, natural woman, except for one thing: between her fingers and toes she had webbing, snow-white and softer than a poppy petal..."
Thus begins "The Story of the Beautiful Lau" by Eduard Mörike, in which the water nymph at the Blautopf learns to laugh again. Her husband, an old Danube nymph, had banished her to the Blautopf spring after she bore him only stillborn children out of sheer sadness. Only when she laughed heartily five times would the curse be lifted.