The little Mermaid
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- The little mermaid - also admired from the seaside - UPS! someone seems to have placed a finger at the wrong place at the wrong moment...
One of the prettiest and best known Danish women is Den Lille Havfrue - The Little Mermaid. You'll find her in the Danish capital Copenhagen.
She is a rather old lady. She has been sitting naked on a stone at the harbour, at Langelinie, for more than 90 years!
She has been there since august 1913, during winter and summer, in storm, in snow, in rain and sunshine. She has been frown upon, photographed, touched, kissed, and admired by millions of visitors who have travelled from all over the world to come and se her.
It is also a rather small lady : 1.25 m, but she is made of bronze and therefore she is also a very heavy lady :175 kilo. And maybe therefore she seems to be able to stand the fuss.
The figure is inspired by a fairytale, The Little Mermaid, written by the famous danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. The fairytale was first published in 1837, and several years later tranformed into a ballet.
You can find more about the Mermaid on the Net at several websites. The fairytale by H.C. Andersen is also available in several translations.
But be warned: the woman figure you find in the fairytale has not much in common with the typical danish woman of today ;-)
BTW: Did you know that other sculptures are inspired by Hans Christian
Andersens fairytale about the little Mermaid?
Among them is a very nice sculpture from 1949 placed in the
Zoological Garden of Odense. Odense is situated on the Danish island Fyn
about 2 hours from Copenhagen. H.C. Andersen were born in Odense.