TheBlautopf (German forBlue pot) is aspring that is considered the source of the riverBlau in thekarst landscape on theSwabian Jura's southern edge. It is located inBlaubeuren,Alb-Donau-Kreis,Baden-Württemberg,Germany (approximately 16 km (9.9 mi) west ofUlm).
It forms the drain for the Blaucave system; the river Blau after 14.5 km (9.0 mi)[clarification needed] flows into the riverDanube in the city of Ulm. Because of its high water pressure, the spring has developed a funnel-like shape with a depth of 21 metres (69 ft). The water's peculiarly blue color, varying in intensity depending on weather and flow, is the result of physical properties of the nanoscalelimestone particles densely distributed in the water. They causeRayleigh scattering of light, preferentially scattering the blue color of the visible light. A similar effect is observed at theBlue Lagoon nearReykjavík, where the color originates from nanoscalesilica particles.[1]
On the banks of the Blautopf is located ahammer mill driven by the water of the spring. A film documenting the exploration of the cave is shown at the same location[clarification needed].[1]
The Blautopf is a spring in akarst environment. One characteristic of a karst environment is that water, which drains quickly through the limestone in one area, surfaces in another. Karst environments only have subterranean drainage, and there are no bodies of water above ground. Therefore, the size of the Blautopf depends greatly on the level of rainfall, though it never entirely dries out. The Blautopf is the second largest spring inGermany, after theAachtopf.
Over millennia, subterranean water has created a huge system of caves in the area. Prominent examples are theBlauhöhle (Blau-cave), discovered byJochen Hasenmayer in 1985,[2] and theApokalypse (Apocalypse), discovered on 23 September 2006 by Jochen Malmann and Andreas Kücha, members of theArbeitsgemeinschaft Blautopf, a club dedicated to the exploration of the Blautopf's cave system.[3] While the Blauhöhle is completely filled with water for a length of about 1,500 metres (approximately 4,935 ft), the Apokalypse is dry; because of its dimensions—170 metres long, 50 metres wide, 50 metres high—it is a special feature of the region.
The entry to theBlauhöhle lies at a depth of about 22 meters (about 70 ft). Therefore, access is restricted to experienced and well-trained divers. In the 1980s, city authorities were forced to prohibit diving in the Blautopf after several accidents, including some fatal ones. Permission to dive in the Blautopf has only been granted to a few organizations: among them, theArbeitsgemeinschaft Blautopf, a group of scientificspeleologists led by Jochen Hasenmayer, and rescue services. The most recent fatal accident occurred in 2003, killing Bernd Aspacher, a member of Hasenmayer's team.[4][5]
Numerouslegends andfolk 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 leadensounding line, awater 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 calledKlötzle Blei ("little block of lead" in the local dialect) in the vicinity of the Blautopf. A well-knowntongue-twister in theSwabian dialect told to local children, refers to this rock:
Standard High German:
English Translation:
The novelist and poetEduard Mörike incorporated thisfolklore and other tales into theromanticnovellaDas Stuttgarter Hutzelmännlein. They were woven into the background story of a journeyman travelling fromStuttgart to Blaubeuren. In particular, the story of theSchöne Lau, amermaid, and her husband, a male water-nix from theBlack 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 theinnNonnenhof came to her aid.(The completeGerman text is available atEduard Mörike: Die Schöne Lau.)
Faszination Blautopf. Thorbecke Jan Verlag. 2009. p. 136.ISBN 978-3799508315.OCLC 316307940.
48°24′57″N9°47′02″E / 48.41583°N 9.78389°E /48.41583; 9.78389
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