Copenhagen’s Famous Mermaid: Den lille havfrue, The Little Mermaid The Little Mermaid was made famous by a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark’s famous author. It was a tale about a young mermaid who was willing to give up her life in the ocean and her life as a mermaid to gain a human soul. “The tale was actually made to scare children into good behavior.” ‐ quietlunch.com ‐ hca.gilead.org Copenhagen’s famous statue is that of the Little Mermaid, however there are rumors that the original is not what is displayed by the City of Copenhagen. Why you ask. Well, the original was sculpted by Edvard Erkisen who was commissioned to do the statue in 1909. It was unveiled on August 23, 1913, a gift from the Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen from Carlsberg Brewery. Four years later the 385‐pound bronze statue was presented to the City of Copenhagen and placed in the harbor area. Since her appearance, she has been vandalized and scandalized. It is believed that the original is with the Eriksen family. Vandalism has included decapitation three times, an arm being attacked with a hacksaw, someone even used an explosive to blow her off her pedestal and throwing paint on her five times. The scandal came from none other than Facebook who banned her from its online publication due to nudity guidelines. ‐ bbc.com ‐VisitDenmark The mermaid’s history was also plagued with problems from the beginning. According to VisitDenmark, “The Little Mermaid was meant to be modelled after contemporary ballerina Ellen Price, but as she refused to model nude, the Mermaid was in fact modelled after Edvard Eriksen’s wife, Eline.” “The statue was sculpted as a twin‐tailed mermaid, although the H.C. Andersen fairy tale describes the mermaid as having a single tail.” It is estimated that a million people visit her each year and take millions of photos annually. She has also toured the U.S.A., Brazil, Romania, Spain and China. Her acting career took place in 1989 when she became an animated celebrity. This photo program takes you from the airport to street sales and to the Little Mermaid’s statue at Langelinie, Copenhagen.

Sources: http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheLittleMermaid_e.html, http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_merma.html, https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/little‐mermaid‐gdk586951, https://www.quietlunch.com/den‐lille‐havfrue‐the‐true‐story‐of‐the‐ little‐mermaid/, https://www.bustle.com/articles/65813‐9‐ways‐the‐original‐little‐mermaid‐by‐hans‐christian‐andersen‐is‐actually‐seriously‐ disturbing, http://time.com/4797917/little‐mermaid‐statue‐paint‐vandalism‐copenhagen‐denmark/, https://www.bbc.com/news/world‐europe‐ 40293396 and https://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/little‐mermaid‐denmarks‐most‐photographed‐statue. acuri.net John R. Vincenti Copenhagen’s Famous Mermaid