The legend of the snake king
Where Lübbenau now lies, there must have been swamp and forest in the past. There had only been a castle there. The former owner, the old count, had been banished by an executioner to the heath, far away. The castle now lay there, lonely and abandoned. Finally, a forester who had come across this forest while hunting discovered it. He remained the sole owner for a long time.
Once again, he saw through the window how many snakes were coiling and chasing each other on a sunny patch of heath nearby. It looked like a fun game. The largest snake had laid down the golden crown that it always wore on its head on a light patch of sand.
So that was the snake king! When the forester saw this, a daring idea occurred to him. He was back the next day and brought a white cloth with him, because he had noticed that the snake king liked to lay his crown on something light, and he based his plan on that. He spread the linen out exactly where he had seen the crown lying the day before. He had tied a long piece of string to one corner and was now hiding in a hiding place waiting to see what would happen. Sure enough, the snakes came crawling back to play in the midday heat. The king came too and laid his crown on the white cloth. Then they all rolled and writhed around in the game. That was what the forester had been waiting for. He quickly pulled the cloth towards him with the string, stole the crown, jumped on his horse and rode off at full speed. The snakes, however, noticed the theft and rushed after him, whistling and hissing. They almost caught up with him. Then, in his fear, he threw the cloak off his horse. The snakes bit into it and the forester escaped.
The cloak was later found completely torn and riddled with holes. Because the forester had the crown, he became very rich. The Lynar family descended from him and ruled Lübbenau for a long time.
Source:
Legend from Lower Lusatia - House for Sorbian Folk Art