Denmark: in the places of Andersen's fairy-tale heroes. Denmark: in the places of Andersen's fairy-tale heroes Figures from Andersen's books
One of the most famous monuments to the heroine of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" is located in the center of Copenhagen and is a symbol of the Danish capital. The bronze statue, weighing 175 kilograms and 125 centimeters high, is installed on a granite pedestal at the Langelinie pier.
The monument was created by Danish sculptor Edward Eriksen by order of a major entrepreneur, owner of the Carlsberg brewing concern and philanthropist Carl Jacobsen.
In 1909, the Royal Danish Theater premiered the ballet “The Little Mermaid” to the music of composer Fini Henriques, staged by choreographer Hans Beck, with prima Ellen Price performing the solo role.
Jacobsen was fascinated by the ballerina's dance and invited her to pose for a sculpture dedicated to the fairy-tale image. However, Price refused to pose nude and his wife, Eline, became the sculptor’s model.
According to one legend, Edward Eriksen used Price’s facial features to create the image of the Little Mermaid, but the sculptor’s descendants claim that the statue completely replicates Eline Eriksen’s appearance.
On September 14, 1912, the Little Mermaid statue was first shown to the public, and on August 23, 1913, it was donated to the city and installed on its permanent pedestal on the embankment.
About a million people visit this attraction every year; 75% of tourists coming to the city strive to see the Little Mermaid first of all.
Sailors from all over the world. And tourists believe that the sculpture brings good luck if you touch it.
The monument attracts not only tourists; it has repeatedly become a victim of vandals. In 1964, the incident occurred for the first time - the monument was beheaded, and the lost bronze head could not be found. For a long time, the police could not find the attacker.
More than 30 years later, the Danish experimental artist Jorgen Nasch admitted to this act in his memoirs. However, his guilt was not reliably proven.
After the scandalous incident, as dusk fell, the monument began to be illuminated by spotlights. At first there was a police post next to the monument, then it was removed.
In 1998, the Little Mermaid's head was again cut off, but it was discovered and the sculpture was quickly restored. In 1990, the statue’s head was almost sawed off again, cutting off almost the entire neck.
In the summer of 1984, unknown hooligans sawed off the statue’s right hand. The criminals themselves came to the police. They turned out to be two young men who committed an act of vandalism while intoxicated.
In September 2003, the Little Mermaid was thrown from the pedestal on which she was installed into the water.
In December 2004, the sculpture was dressed in a burqa and Muslim dress and a sign was attached to it: “Turkey in the EU?” in protest against Turkey's intention to join the European Union. In May 2007, the Little Mermaid wore a hijab.
Vandals tried several times to repaint the statue. In March 2007, hooligans literally painted it pink in front of hundreds of tourists.
In May 2007, unknown persons painted the head and left hand Little mermaids.
The authorities in Copenhagen are tired of having to restore the Little Mermaid after the antics of vandals. Proposals were repeatedly made to move the monument a few meters from the shore towards the sea, but they were not implemented.
On April 2, 1805, the city of Odense was incredibly lucky - it was here on this day that the great storyteller Hans Christian Andersen was born. Thanks to this fact, this city has become famous throughout the world, and crowds of tourists come here to see with their own eyes the place where the most famous children's writer in the world was born and raised, to touch the history of his life and walk along the same streets that he walked the author of the most beloved, most beautiful, most fairy tales in the world.
Moreover, you can follow in Andersen’s footsteps here both literally and figuratively. All over the city, here and there, traces of someone’s feet are visible on the paths. These marks are quite huge by our standards - they correspond to size 47 shoes! It is believed (conditionally, of course) that they belong to Andersen and are located exactly where he personally could have walked in his time.
These tracks make it easy to navigate the city if the goal is to find attractions associated with the writer. Unfortunately, we realized this too late, and therefore wandered around a little chaotically. In addition, we wanted to see other sights of the city that were not related to Andersen, so we had to deviate from the route laid out by the trail more than once.
It must be said that the city and its residents have done a lot to perpetuate the memory of their great fellow tribesman.
This is what we finally managed to find and see.
Monument to Andersen downtown.
It is installed in the center of the Fairytale Garden. Yes, the garden this summer didn’t quite look like a garden, there was bare earth instead of grass, but these, alas, are natural disasters. Apart from Andersen’s sculpture itself, I didn’t find anything fabulous in this garden.
The sculpture, created by master Louis Hasselriis, arrived in Odense in 1888, when the city's residents raised enough money to buy it.
Behind the monument you can see the church. I wrote about her in a previous post.
This Church of St. Hans - little Andersen was baptized there.
Here you can see this white building. This a former palace where Andersen's mother worked as a laundress.
She often took little Hans with her to work. In one of the brochures that we were given at the museum, I read that in this garden he played with other children, including a boy who later became the most popular king of Denmark, Frederick VII.
From here we head to the City Hall in the hope of getting all the necessary information and a map of the city there.
As it turned out, it was here, however, in the former Town Hall building, on December 6, 1867, Andersen was dedicated as an honorary citizen of the city of Odense.
We approached the building just as a traditional, apparently traditional performance by local artists - adults and children - was taking place.
They acted out scenes from Andersen's fairy tales and took pictures with everyone.
From here we move to two very important sights of the city for me.
And the first of them is house where Andersen was born.
A hundred years after his birth, in 1908, a museum was opened in this small yellow corner house.
Now in this historical part of the city everything is well-groomed and fabulously beautiful, but then it was the poorest area, and its local residents belonged to the lowest social class.
The houses are like toys!
Andersen was born at one in the morning on April 2, 1805, in this room, and possibly on this bed.
His father, also Hans, was a poor shoemaker. But it was he who introduced his son into beautiful world fairy tales, reading him various stories of Scheherazade, and also visiting the theater with him once.
Mother, Anna Marie, was an illiterate laundress. In addition, she suffered from alcoholism and was placed in a special institution, where she eventually died in complete poverty. It is quite possible that she drank to warm up after standing in cold water for a long time while washing.
Andersen describes his mother well in the fairy tale "The Lost". I'll give a couple of quotes from there:
“How nice! You’ll warm up right away, as if you’re eating something hot, but it costs much less! Have some bread too, little boy! It’s cold for you in your light dress! Autumn is in the yard! Uh! The water is very cold! I just hope I don’t get sick!” .....
“She’s a lost woman! Tell your mother that she’s ashamed! Look, don’t become a drunkard yourself! However, needless to say; of course you will! Poor child...”
Hans’s maternal grandmother also had a hard time. She gave birth to three children out of wedlock, for which she was imprisoned under the then existing law.
When little Hans was two years old, his family moved to another house, where he spent his entire childhood until he was 14 years old and from where he then moved to Copenhagen.
This is another one Andersen House Museum.
The furnishings are very reminiscent of the old house.
The same workplace of my father.
A bed on which lies a homemade toy for playing theater. His father made toys that sometimes replaced Andersen’s real friends. He did not like school, because rods were used there, and his relationships with his peers did not work out either. He was often teased and insulted. In addition, he was never able to master literacy and made many mistakes in writing.
Andersen generally grew up as a very emotional, nervous and withdrawn child. According to him, his student years came to him in his sleep in the form of nightmares.
Nevertheless, Andersen always remembered this house with a feeling of nostalgia, because the house itself was full of love, fairy tales and imagination.
Opposite the house there is this funny one Andersen sculpture carved from wood.
Before us Andersen Museum.
The museum is very good, but for some reason I expected more. Actually, I expected more from everything, although much more.
There are many exhibits on display here: clothing, furniture, personal items, letters, drawings, books, etc.
Even his luggage, with which he traveled a lot.
A separate room in the museum, enclosed by glass, is occupied by a recreated study of Andersen. The interior of his last apartment at 18 Nyhavn Street in Copenhagen was restored from photographs taken in 1874.
All the furniture and things actually belonged to the writer.
By the way, he had another amazing talent: cutting out silhouettes and paper figures.
This fresco depicts a torchlight procession in honor of Andersen being named an honorary citizen of Odense in 1867.
Andersen himself looks out of the window of the Town Hall to appear to the people who have come to greet him. Who knows... perhaps he experienced brief moments of happiness that so rarely fell to his lot.
In his personal life he was unhappy. All the details are still not known exactly, but it is believed, for example, that he was a latent homosexual, and even a virgin.
He was also unlucky in love. There were several women in his life, but they did not reciprocate Andersen's feelings.
And in 1846, he seriously fell in love with the opera singer Jenny Lind, wrote poetry to her, but she treated him more like a brother and eventually married a British composer. It was Jenny who was the prototype of the Snow Queen in the fairy tale of the same name.
In 1872, Andersen fell out of bed and was seriously hurt. The fall was fatal. Having lived three more years after this, he died on August 4, 1875.
The museum also has this replicated sculpture: Andersen surrounded by children. There is some kind of mockery and irony of fate in this, since Andersen least of all wanted to be remembered as a children's writer. After all, he also wrote adult literature: novels, stories, poems. In addition, he generally forbade the use of children's figures on his monument.
But you can't fool fate. Despite the fact that Andersen wanted to become an adult novelist, and also dreamed of becoming both an actor and a singer, he went down in history as an unsurpassed storyteller, loved and revered by both children and adults. And in this his wish came true.
Leaving the museum, we set ourselves up for a long walk, more like a children's game.
We needed to find 18 sculptures related to Andersen's fairy tales and scattered throughout the city.
And we found them all! But in order not to bore you, I will show only the most interesting of them.
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Thumbelina
Wild Swans
Paper boat
Darning needle
Shepherdess and chimney sweep
Airplane chest
The king's new dress
Of course, with the greatest enthusiasm I was looking for the statue of the little mermaid. It was further to get to it than to all the other statues, but I was sure that I was not going in vain. I was wrong. Oddly enough, this sculpture completely disappointed me. Or, which is also likely, I simply did not appreciate the author's intention. But I really didn’t understand anything here.
Mermaid
On the pillar (don’t ask why the mermaid is on the pillar) lies the huge body of a mermaid... with a small female head.
It feels like this head doesn’t belong here at all and was borrowed from another monument. The head attached to the right shoulder faces the head-sized ship standing on the left shoulder. In general, something didn’t work out for her or for me...
P 
more details: http://cyclowiki.org/wiki/%D0 
%A5%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81_%D0%9A%D1%80%D0% B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%90%D 0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%81%D0%B5 %D0%BD An interesting sculptural composition is located in front of the Radisson Blu Hotel.
Firstly, there is a wonderful sculpture of Andersen sitting on a bench. His cape is so wide that it is enough to cover a bag standing on the ground on one side, and cover the entire bench on the other. A very good place to take photos together with Andersen - sit comfortably next to him.
The roof of the hotel is supported by three interesting columns created using fairy-tale heroes. There is also a funny bench on human legs.
I don’t even know what fairy tales some of the characters are from.
But here I was finally able to admire the little mermaid!
The witch's head is visible in her (I almost said "legs") tail.
And in her hands she is holding, apparently, the scalp of the prince or his mask. Probably, the author of the composition wanted to say that the little mermaid always carries the image of the prince with her, but from the outside it looks exactly like a scalp.
Well. We completed the entire program planned for this day. We saw, heard, learned a lot. We plunged into the real fairy-tale world of Andersen. It's time to leave.
On the way to the station, we saw luxurious street art on the wall of one house, unfortunately, as usual, surrounded by some strange fence and therefore poorly visible. The 12-meter tall Andersen looked at us, with a subtle smile on his lips, but with undisguised sadness in his eyes.
During his life he was lonely and loved by no one. And I would like to hope that where he has gone forever, he feels good and happy, because the heroes he invented live next to him. Fairies and princesses, shepherdesses and chimney sweeps, swans and mermaids, an old street lamp and a talking inkwell - they all surround him and save him from loneliness. And love... Everything there is saturated with love - our love, each of us, from that multi-million army of readers and admirers of his talent, who cannot imagine their life without his fairy tales, who have been in love with them since childhood and pass this love on - to their children and grandchildren.
“We have not been given an immortal soul, and we will never be resurrected for a new life; we are like this green reed: once uprooted, it will not turn green again! People, on the contrary, have an immortal soul that lives forever, even after how the body turns to dust; then she flies away into the blue sky, there, to the clear stars..." - this is what Andersen wrote in my favorite fairy tale, “The Little Mermaid.”
I believe that somewhere there his soul found its star...
One hundred years ago, on August 23, 1913, a monument to the Little Mermaid from Andersen’s fairy tale appeared in Copenhagen, created by sculptor Edvard Eriksen. But not everyone knows that besides this famous sculpture There are other monuments to Andersen’s heroes.
Staged in Odense, Denmark, the homeland of the great storyteller. This bronze figurine of a soldier seems to have just stepped out of the pages of a fairy tale, the tin soldier standing steadfastly at his post on one leg looks so believable (as you remember from the fairy tale, there was not enough tin for the other).
Monument to the Little Mermaid is perhaps the most famous monument to the character of everyone’s favorite storyteller. In the image of a mermaid, the sculptor, commissioned by a rich brewer in love, depicted the object of his affections - the ballerina of the royal theater, Juliet Price. So a simple ballerina became practically immortal, turning into everyone’s favorite Little Mermaid. The monument to the little mermaid is small - the height of the sculpture is only 1.25 meters, weight is about 175 kg. But this small sculpture is the personification of not only Andersen’s entire work, the Little Mermaid has become a real symbol of Copenhagen. However, it attracts the attention of not only tourists and city guests, but also intruders. The monument was barbarically damaged by hooligans twice. The first time, in 1964, vandals beheaded the Little Mermaid. But thanks to the fact that the old plaster mold of the statue was preserved, the head was cast. After this, they began to illuminate the monument and even set up a police post near it. But as soon as it was removed, the Little Mermaid’s hand was sawed off. This time, the attackers themselves turned themselves in to the police and did not suffer serious punishment. On the anniversaries of the monument, grandiose celebrations are held in Copenhagen, in which both city guests and citizens take part with pleasure.
Can also be seen in Odense. This small sculpture depicts the process of transformation of the Ugly Duckling into the Beautiful Swan. It also seems that the curve of the neck is not quite majestic, and the figure is a little angular, but everyone knows that soon, to the surprise of those around him, the most beautiful swan in the world will appear before everyone. This monument gives every person hope for a wonderful future and teaches them not to pay attention to difficulties, like the hero of Andersen’s fairy tale. This is probably why passers-by often linger in front of this sculpture.
Andersen Park, Odense. In the place where the river divides into two branches, a Paper Boat, made, of course, of metal, forever floats with the flow. The impression from this sculpture is very unusual and pleasant.
Odense. This sculpture depicts the moment when Thumbelina was found in a flower. A small figurine of a girl is located in a blooming inflorescence. This image is always a favorite among kids visiting the park.
Andersen's fairy tales are revered not only in their homeland. In the city in 2006 it was installed on the central alley of the park. Sculptors V. Zvonov and A. Butaev made this monument using mixed media. Sweet Thumbelina with the wings given to her by the Elf immediately fell in love with the kids visiting this park, and, of course, with adults who had a reason to interest their child in a fairy tale.
Today, any person’s childhood is unthinkable without his fairy tales. His name became a symbol of everything real, pure, high. It is no coincidence that the highest international award for the best children's book bears his name - the Hans-Christian Andersen Gold Medal, which is awarded every two years to the most talented writers and artists. Monuments to G.Kh. have been erected in different cities around the world. Andersen and the heroes of his fairy tales.
Andersen was born in Denmark, in the town of Odense. Denmark has a large number of interesting and memorable places, and since the country is very small, it seems that it is one big fairy tale of the main storyteller of the country, Hans Christian Andersen.
In Odense, where the storyteller was born, there are monuments to Andersen and the heroes of his fairy tales on the streets, and in the park a paper boat floats along the river.
Monument to Andersen in Odense.
Barefoot Andersen
The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
Swan.
The king's new outfit.
Thumbelina.
The dog from "Ognivo".
Figures from Andersen's books.
Three sides of Andersen.
Paper boat.
No capital in the world can tell as many stories as Copenhagen tells its guests. And everyone who has been there always says: “It’s just a fairy tale!”
Monument to the Little Mermaid is one of the main attractions of Denmark.
Currently installed in Copenhagen two monuments to the great storyteller. One bronze Hans Christian sits on a pedestal in the garden of the Royal Palace of Rosenborg.
They say that Andersen loved to come to this garden, sit on a bench, feed bread to the ducks and swans swimming in the pond - the former fortress moat. The design of the monument was created by sculptor August Soby during the writer’s lifetime: Andersen was supposed to be depicted with a book in his hands, surrounded by children. However, the elderly Andersen rejected the project. “I could never read out loud when someone was sitting next to me,” he said. But most of all he didn’t like the idea of children: he didn’t want to see only young readers as his fans. Andersen considered himself an “adult” writer, poet and playwright. This monument was erected only in 1880 - five years after Andersen's death. The storyteller looks over their heads, the book is in his left hand, and his right hand is extended with outstretched fingers, as if for blessing or reassurance.
The second monument, also seated, was made by the sculptor Henry Lukow-Nielsen and installed in 1961 near the town hall building on Town Hall Square; here Andersen faces the Tivoli amusement park.
It does not have a high pedestal, like the first one, so any child can (and does) climb onto the storyteller’s lap. For this reason, the legs of the statue are more polished than other parts of the bronze body. Thanks to the children and the right idea of the sculptor, this monument is perhaps the most photographed in Copenhagen. Everyone can come up to him, touch the cane he holds in one hand, stroke the book in the other, take a photo with his favorite writer.
In Russia, in the city of Sosnovy Bor, in 1980, in honor of the 175th anniversary of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen, the children's town of Andersengrad was opened.
The Little Mermaid in Andersengrad.
And also monuments to H.H. Andersen and his heroes.
Denmark.
Malaga
The ugly duckling in Andersen's bag (Malaga).
Thumbelina (Sochi).
On this day, April 2, two holidays are celebrated: International Children's Book Day and the birthday of the great children's storyteller, writer, playwright and poet Hans Christian Andersen. On this day, the Mail.ru Real Estate project decided to introduce its readers to the most interesting monuments of the storyteller himself and his characters.
Hans Christian Andersen, who gave children “The Ugly Duckling,” “Wild Swans,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Thumbelina,” “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” and “ Snow Queen", born April 2, 1805 in Odense on the island of Funen.
Andersen's father was a poor shoemaker, and his mother was a washerwoman from a poor family who had to beg as a child. Since childhood future writer showed a penchant for writing and staged home performances. In 1816, Andersen's father died, and the boy had to work for food. The future writer was an apprentice to a weaver and tailor, and worked in a cigarette factory.
This monument by sculptor Henri Lukow-Nielsen was erected in Copenhagen in 1961 near the town hall building on Town Hall Square. Hans Christian Andersen faces Tivoli Park. The absence of a high pedestal allows children to climb onto the lap of their favorite storyteller. Because of this, the bronze legs of the monument are more polished than all other parts of the body. This idea of the sculptor made this monument one of the most photographed in Copenhagen.
A monument to Andersen based on the fairy tale “The Snail and the Rosebush” was erected in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, which the writer called “a fairy-tale city.”
A real symbol of the capital of Denmark - Copenhagen - has become a bronze mermaid, made based on Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid". The monument was made by order of the son of the founder of the Carlsberg brewery, Carl Jacobsen, who was fascinated by the ballet based on the fairy tale The Little Mermaid at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen.
Sailors from all over the world give her flowers, believing that it brings happiness. Today, many cities have copies of the statue, for example, they are in Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Tokyo and Sydney.
The Ugly Duckling monument by sculptor George Lober was erected in New York's Central Park in 1955. Great storyteller pictured here with his character.
There are monuments to the heroes of Andersen’s fairy tales in Russia. In 1980, in honor of the 175th anniversary of the writer’s birth, an entire children’s town of Andersengrad was opened in the city of Sosnovy Bor. On the opening day of Andersengrad, the only sculpture in the town was a high relief depicting Andersen, but in 2008 a statue of the Little Mermaid was installed, and in 2010 a steadfast tin soldier appeared.
Bronze Thumbelina appeared in the center of Kyiv, next to puppet theater in 2006 year. The heroine of the fairy tale sits in the center of the fountain. It is noteworthy that the height of the water jets in the fountain reaches 6 meters, and the diameter of the fountain is 10 meters. Thus, the size of the monument is discordant with the tiny height of Thumbelina in Andersen’s fairy tale.
