The Little Mermaid (statue)
Bronze mermaid statue, Copenhagen icon since 1913.
The Little Mermaid (Danish: *Den lille Havfrue*) is a bronze sculpture created by Edvard Eriksen. It shows a mermaid in the process of turning into a human. The statue sits on a rock at the edge of the water along the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It stands 1.25 meters (4.1 feet) tall and weighs 175 kilograms (385 pounds). Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale of the same name, this modest, unassuming statue has become a symbol of Copenhagen and a popular tourist draw since it was first revealed in 1913.
The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, the son of the Carlsberg brewery founder. He had been captivated by a ballet performance of the fairy tale at Copenhagen’s Royal Theatre and asked the ballerina Ellen Price to pose for the sculpture. Edvard Eriksen, the sculptor, created the bronze figure, which was unveiled on August 23, 1913. Price agreed to model, but she would not pose nude, so the statue’s body was instead modeled entirely on Eriksen’s wife, Eline Eriksen. A common but incorrect story claims that Price’s face was used; in truth, it was not.
For the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai (May to October), the Copenhagen City Council arranged for the statue to be moved to the Danish Pavilion there. This was the first time it had been officially relocated from its spot since its installation nearly a century earlier. While it was in Shanghai, an authorized copy was placed on a rock in a lake at Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens. Officials have considered moving the statue several meters out into the harbor to reduce vandalism and keep tourists from climbing on it, but as of September 2022, it remains on dry land at Langelinie.
The statue has been damaged and defaced many times since the mid-1960s for various reasons, but it has always been restored. On April 24, 1964, its head was sawed off and stolen by politically motivated artists from the Situationist movement, including Jørgen Nash. The head was never recovered, so a new one was made and attached. On July 22, 1984, the right arm was cut off and returned two days later by two young men. In 1990, an attempt to sever the head left an 18-centimeter (7-inch) deep cut in the neck. On January 6, 1998, the statue was decapitated again; the culprits were never found, but the head was returned anonymously to a nearby TV station and reattached on February 4. On the night of S
- height
- 1.25 meters (4.1 ft)
- weight
- 175 kilograms (385 lb)
- material
- bronze
- location
- Langelinie promenade, Copenhagen, Denmark
- unveiled
- August 23, 1913
- sculptor
- Edvard Eriksen
- subject
- mermaid becoming human
Lore & Background
The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, who had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale in Copenhagen's Royal Theatre and asked the ballerina, Ellen Price, to model for the statue. The sculptor Edvard Eriksen created the bronze statue, which was unveiled on August 23, 1913. Eriksen asked Price to model for the statue, but as the ballerina did not agree to model in the nude, the statue was instead modelled completely on the sculptor's wife, Eline Eriksen. There is a popular story that the face was modelled on Price, but this is false.
The statue has been damaged and defaced many times since the mid-1960s for various reasons, but has been restored each time. Incidents include the head being sawn off and stolen in 1964, the right arm sawn off in 1984, decapitation again in 1998, and being knocked off its base with explosives in 2003. Paint has been poured on the statue several times, and it has been used for political statements, such as references to whaling in the Faroe Islands, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. People have also repeatedly dressed the statue, for fun or to make statements.
Reader's Guide
The Little Mermaid statue is a major tourist attraction and a symbol of Copenhagen, Denmark. Despite its small size, it has become an iconic landmark, comparable to other city symbols like Manneken Pis in Brussels or the Statue of Liberty in New York. The statue has been a frequent target for vandalism and political activism since the mid-1960s, with numerous incidents of decapitation, arm removal, and paint attacks. These acts have often been tied to political messages, such as protests against whaling, support for refugees, or opposition to war. The statue has also been moved temporarily, including to Shanghai for Expo 2010, and copies exist in over thirteen locations worldwide, including Solvang, California, and Brasília, Brazil. Copyright issues have arisen, with the Eriksen family holding rights until 2030, and legal cases involving parody and replicas. The statue's enduring presence and repeated restoration highlight its cultural significance and the public's attachment to this representation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale.
Did You Know?
- The statue was modelled on the sculptor's wife, Eline Eriksen, not the ballerina Ellen Price.
- The statue's head was sawn off and stolen in 1964 by artists of the Situationist movement, and never recovered.
- In 2003, the statue was knocked off its base with explosives and later found in the harbour's waters.
- A copy of the statue was presented by Denmark to Brazil in 1960 for the construction of Brasília.
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