In 1837, the great Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen composed the most touching and saddest of his fairy tales - The Little Mermaid. Later, a monument to a mermaid sitting on a stone was erected in the Danish capital Copenhagen.
The history of the creation of the monument
The opening of the monument to the Little Mermaid took place on August 23, 1913. It was created by the sculptor Edward Eriksen by order of the founder and owner of the Carlsberg brewing concern and renowned philanthropist Karl Jacobsen.
The fact is that in 1909 the premiere of the ballet The Little Mermaid, written by the Danish composer Fini Henriques based on Andersen's fairy tale, took place on the stage of the Danish Royal Theater. Ellen Price, the leading ballerina of the troupe, performed in the lead role.
Jacobsen was fascinated by the beautiful dancer and commissioned Eriksen to create a statue of the Little Mermaid under the condition that Ellen Price would become her model. But the ballerina did not want to pose nude, and the sculptor's wife Eline Eriksen became the model for the image of the Little Mermaid.
There is a version that to create the image of the Little Mermaid, the sculptor still used the facial features of Ellen Price, although his descendants claim that both the face and the figure of the statue completely repeat the appearance of Eline Eriksen. However, all this has long ceased to matter. The main thing is that Eriksen managed to create an image of eternal femininity, embodied in the fragile and touching heroine of Andersen's fairy tale.
A bronze statue weighing 175 kg and a height of 125 cm was donated to Copenhagen. They decided to install it on a granite pedestal at the Langelini pier. Since then, it has become the unofficial symbol of the Danish capital. The beautiful and sad Little Mermaid sits on a stone with a sprig of seaweed in her hands and yearns for her lost lover.
The little mermaid is a victim of vandals
The inhabitants of Copenhagen, and indeed of all Denmark, love their Little Mermaid very much. But, despite this, the monument is constantly attacked by vandals. Three times they cut off the Little Mermaid's head, then sawed off her right hand. The monument was thrown from the pedestal, dressed in a Muslim dress and veil, and repainted many times.
The city authorities are tired of constantly restoring the statue. Many times proposals have been made to move the monument a few meters from the coast, but they were never implemented.
And yet the Little Mermaid is still sitting on her pedestal. Every year, the monument is visited by about a million tourists, for whom the Little Mermaid is the main attraction of Copenhagen. Many of them believe that the statue brings good luck and try to touch it. As for the inhabitants of Denmark themselves, they are absolutely sure: while the beautiful mermaid meets them at the port, peace and tranquility will reign in the country.
