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 set on a granite pedestal at the Langelinie pier.
The monument was created by the Danish sculptor Edvard 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 music by composer Fini Henriquez, staged by choreographer Hans Beck, the soloist in it was performed by prima Ellen Price.
Jacobsen was fascinated by the dance of the ballerina and invited her to pose for a sculpture dedicated to the fabulous image. However, Price refused to pose in the nude and his wife, Elina, became the sculptor's model.
According to one of the legends, Edward Eriksen used Price's facial features to create the image of the Little Mermaid, but the descendants of the sculptor claim that the statue completely repeats the appearance of Elina Eriksen.
On September 14, 1912, the statue of the Little Mermaid 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 who come to the city tend to see the Little Mermaid in the first place.
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, the lost bronze head could not be found. For a long time, the police could not find the intruder either.
More than 30 years later, the Danish experimental artist Jørgen Nash confessed to this act in his memoirs. However, his guilt has not been proven.
After the scandalous incident with the onset of twilight, the monument began to be illuminated by searchlights. At first, a police post was on duty next to the monument, then it was removed.
In 1998, the Little Mermaid's head was cut off again, but it was discovered, and the sculpture was quickly restored. In 1990, the statue was almost sawed off again, cutting off almost the entire neck.
In the summer of 1984, unknown hooligans sawed off the right hand of the statue. The perpetrators 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 it is installed into the water.
In December 2004, the sculpture was dressed in a veil and a Muslim dress and attached to it a sign "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 people painted the Little Mermaid's head and left arm red.
The Copenhagen authorities are tired of having to restore the Little Mermaid after the antics of the vandals. There have been repeated proposals to move the monument a few meters from the shore towards the sea, but they have not been implemented.
One of the first fairy tales with which we begin our acquaintance with the work of Hans-Christian Andersen is the fairy tale "Thumbelina". Thumbelina (dat. Tommelise) - a tiny fairy-tale girl. The name Thumbelina was not chosen by chance for a magical creature, compare the Dutch word duim - “thumb”. Thumbelina is really one inch tall, that is, approximately 2.5 cm. “The girl was so tiny that she settled down to sleep in a nutshell, covered herself with a rose petal, and violet petals served her as a mattress. A small plate of water seemed to Thumbelina a whole lake. Beautiful, long-haired, with large expressive eyes, absolutely everyone liked the girl.
My story is about the monuments and sculptural compositions dedicated to this heroine. 
Monument to Thumbelina, Odense, Denmark. This sculpture depicts the moment when Thumbelina was found in a flower. A small figurine of a girl is located in a blooming inflorescence.
In the city of Sochi in 2006, a sculpture of Thumbelina was installed on the central alley of the park. Sculptors V. Zvonov and A. Butaev made this monument in mixed media. The cute Thumbelina with the wings given to her by the Elf immediately fell in love with the kids visiting this park.
The Thumbelina Fountain in Voronezh is part of an architectural ensemble centered on the square in front of the Shut State Puppet Theater, built during the reconstruction of the puppet theater building in the 1980s. The artistic image of the fountain was created by the sculptor I. Dikunov.
A metal girl is located in the Forged Figures Park in Donetsk - a park in Donetsk with sculptural compositions forged from metal was opened in August 2001.
In 2006, near the building of the Kyiv Academic Puppet Theater on Hrushevsky Street, the Thumbelina light and music fountain was opened. The bronze heroine of Andersen's fairy tale sits in the center of the fountain, whose diameter is 10 meters, on six colored glass petals, surrounded by multi-colored water jets.
There was also a monument to the fairy-tale heroine in Balashikha, but they say the sculptor was offended by the vandals and took his creation back.
"Thumbelina" (eng. "Thumbelina"), silent cartoon. Directed by G.M. Dawley. USA, 1924
"Thumbelina" (eng. "Thumbelina"), a short silhouette cartoon. Directed by L. Reiniger, Primrose Productions. UK, 1954
"Thumbelina", hand-drawn cartoon. Directed by L. Amalrik, Soyuzmultfilm studio. USSR, 1964 The role of Thumbelina was voiced by Galina Novozhilova
"Thumbelina", filmstrip. Artist G. Portnyagina. Filmstrip Studio, 1972
"Thumbelina" (Jap. "Sekai Meisaku Dowa: Oyayubi Hime"), anime cartoon. Directed by Yugo Serikawa, Toei Animation, Japan, 1978
"Thumbelina", filmstrip. Artist V. Guz. Leningrad Film and Mechanical Plant, 1987
"Tales of Thumbelina" (jap. "Oyayubi Hime Monogatari"), an animated series of 26 episodes. Enoki Films Studio. Japan, 1992
"Thumbelina" (eng. "Thumbelina"), a drawn cartoon. Directed by Masakazu Higuchi, Hinami Namba, Golden Films. USA, Japan, 1993
"Thumbelina" (eng. "Thumbelina"), a drawn cartoon. Directed by D. Bluth. G. Goldman. Ireland, USA, 1994. The role of Thumbelina was voiced by Jodi Benson, dubbed into Russian by Olga Golovanova.
One hundred years ago, on August 23, 1913, a monument to the Little Mermaid from Andersen's fairy tale appeared in Copenhagen, which was created by sculptor Edvard Eriksen. But not everyone knows that in addition to this famous sculpture, there are other monuments to the heroes of Andersen.
Placed in Odense, Denmark, the birthplace 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 on one leg steadfastly standing at his post looks so believable (as you remember from the fairy tale, there was not enough tin on the other).
Monument to the Little Mermaid is perhaps the most famous monument to the character of the beloved storyteller. In the image of a mermaid, the sculptor, commissioned by a rich brewer in love, depicted the subject of his sighs - the ballerina of the royal theater Juliet Price. So a simple ballerina became almost immortal, turning into the little Mermaid loved by everyone. 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 statue 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 guests of the city, but also intruders. Twice the monument was barbarously defaced by hooligans. The first time, in 1964, vandals beheaded the Little Mermaid. But due to the fact that the old plaster form of the statue was preserved, the head was cast. After that, the monument began to be illuminated and even a police post was set up near it. But, as soon as it was removed, the Little Mermaid's hand was sawn off. This time, the attackers themselves came to the police with a confession and did not suffer serious punishment. On the anniversaries of the monument in Copenhagen, grandiose holidays are organized, in which both guests of the city and the townspeople participate with pleasure.
Can also be seen in Odense. This small sculpture depicts the transformation of the Ugly Duckling into the Beautiful Swan. It also seems that the bend of the neck is not quite majestic, and the figure is a little angular, but everyone knows that soon, to the surprise of others, the most beautiful swan in the world will appear before everyone. This monument gives everyone hope for a wonderful future and teaches them not to pay attention to difficulties, like the hero of Andersen's fairy tale. Perhaps that is why passers-by so often linger in front of this sculpture.
Andersen Park, Odense. In the place where the river divides into two branches, the Paper Boat, which is made, of course, of metal, always floats downstream. The impression of this sculpture is very unusual and pleasant.
Odens. 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 very popular with kids visiting the park.
Andersen's fairy tales are revered not only at home. In the city in 2006 it was installed on the central alley of the park. Sculptors V. Zvonov and A. Butaev made this monument in mixed media. Cute 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, on the day of the anniversary of the famous children's storyteller, let's remember the heroes of his most famous fairy tales, which inspired sculptors around the world to create monuments. Many of them are, of course, in Denmark - in Copenhagen and Odense (Andersen's hometown).
In Copenhagen there is a famous monument to the Little Mermaid. In the image of a mermaid, the sculptor, commissioned by a rich brewer in love, depicted the subject of his sighs - the ballerina of the royal theater Juliet Price. 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 statue 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 guests of the city, but also intruders. Twice the monument was barbarously defaced by hooligans. On the anniversaries of the monument in Copenhagen, grandiose holidays are arranged, in which both guests of the city and the townspeople participate with pleasure.
The monument to the Steadfast Tin Soldier was erected in Odense. This bronze figurine of a soldier seems to have just stepped out of the pages of a fairy tale, the tin soldier standing steadfastly on one leg looks so believable (as we remember, there was not enough tin on the other leg). In Odense, there are monuments to the Beautiful Swan, the Paper Boat, Thumbelina and a whole group of characters from the fairy tale "The King's New Clothes".
In New York, a monument to Andersen himself is erected, next to which sits the Ugly Duckling. In Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, there is a monument to Andersen and the heroes of his fairy tale "The Snail and the Roses"; in Kyiv there are two monuments - Thumbelina and the Princess and the Pea; in Delft (Netherlands) is perhaps the most unusual monument to the heroine of Andersen's fairy tale - the glass "Heart of the Snow Queen".
There are also monuments to Andersen's heroes in Russia: in the city of Sochi in 2006, a monument to Thumbelina was erected on the central alley of the park. Sculptors V. Zvonov and A. Butaev made this monument in mixed media. Cute 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. Ole-Lukoye "settled" in Mytishchi near Moscow; in Sosnovy Bor - The Little Mermaid and the Steadfast Tin Soldier.
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 all over 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 author of the most beloved, most beautiful, most magical fairy tales in the world.
Moreover, you can follow Andersen's footsteps here both literally and figuratively. Throughout the city, here and there, traces of someone's feet are visible on the paths. These footprints are quite huge by our standards - they correspond to size 47 shoes! It is believed (conditionally, of course) that they belong to Andersen and pass exactly where he personally could walk at one time.
These footprints are easy to navigate in the city if the goal is to search for landmarks associated with the writer. Unfortunately, we realized this late, and therefore wandered 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 by traces more than once.
I must say that the city and its inhabitants have done a lot to perpetuate the memory of their great compatriot.
Here is what we finally managed to find and see.
Monument to Andersen downtown.
It is installed in the center of the Fairy Garden. Yes, the garden this summer did not quite look like a garden, instead of grass, bare earth, but, alas, these are natural disasters. In addition to the Andersen sculpture itself, I did not find anything else fabulous in this garden.
The sculpture, created by the master Louis Hasselriis, arrived in Odense in 1888, when the inhabitants of the city raised enough money to buy it.
The church is visible behind the monument. I wrote about it in a previous post.
This Church of St. Hans - little Andersen was baptized in it.
Here you can see this white building. This the 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 turns out, this is where in the former building of the Town Hall, on December 6, 1867, Andersen was consecrated as an honorary citizen of the city of Odense.
We approached the building just at the time when the traditional, apparently, performance of local artists - adults and children - was going on there.
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 one is the house where Andersen was born.
A hundred years after his birth, in 1908, a museum was opened in this small yellow corner house.
It is now in this historical part of the city that 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 look 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 to the wonderful world of fairy tales, reading to him different stories of Scheherazade, and also having been with him once in the theater.
Mother, Anna Marie, was an illiterate laundress. In addition, she suffered from alcoholism, was placed in a special institution, where she eventually died in complete poverty. It is possible that she drank to keep warm after standing in cold water for a long time during the wash.
Andersen describes his mother well in the fairy tale "The Lost One". I'll quote a couple of quotes from there:
"How nice! You'll get warm right away, as if you're eating something hot, but it's much cheaper! Have a drink too, little boy! It's cold in your light dress! It's autumn in the yard! Oh! The water is very cold! If only I don't fall ill!" .....
"She's a lost woman! Tell your mother that she's ashamed! But look, don't become a drunk yourself! However, what 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, according to the then existing law, she went to prison.
When little Hans was two years old, his family moved to another house, where he spent his entire childhood until the age of 14, and from there he moved to Copenhagen.
It's another one Andersen's house-museum.
The setting is very reminiscent of the old house.
The same workplace of the father.
A bed with a homemade theater toy on it. His father made such toys that sometimes replaced Andersen's real friends. He did not like school, because rods were used there, relations with peers also did not develop. He was often teased and insulted. In addition, he was never able to overcome the letter and made many mistakes in the letter.
Andersen generally grew up as a very emotional, nervous and withdrawn child. According to him, his student years came to him in a dream in the form of nightmares.
Nevertheless, Andersen always remembered this house with a sense of nostalgia, because the house itself was full of love, fairy tales and imagination.
Opposite the house is such a funny 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 here: clothes, 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 Andersen's recreated office. 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: carving silhouettes and paper figures.
This mural depicts a torchlight procession in honor of Andersen being made an honorary citizen of the city of Odense in 1867.
Andersen himself looks out of the window of the City Hall to show himself to the people who came to greet him. Who knows... maybe he experienced the brief moments of happiness that so rarely fell to his lot.
In his personal life, he was unhappy. Until now, all the details are not exactly known, 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.
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 hurt himself badly. The fall was fatal. After living three more years after that, he died on August 4, 1875.
The museum also has such a replicated sculpture: Andersen surrounded by children. There is some mockery and irony in this, since the last thing Andersen wanted to be remembered as a children's writer. After all, he also wrote adult literature: novels, short 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 out for a long walk, more like a child'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 tire, 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 a statue of a little mermaid. It was further to go to her than to all the other statues, but I was sure that I was not going in vain. Wrong. Oddly enough, but this sculpture disappointed me completely. Or, which is also likely, I simply did not appreciate the author's intent. But I really didn't understand anything.
Mermaid
On the pillar (why the mermaid is on the pillar - don't ask) the huge body of a mermaid is reclining...with a small female head.
It seems that this head is generally out of place here and it was borrowed from another monument. The head, attached to the right shoulder, looks down on a head-sized ship resting on the left shoulder. In general, something did not grow together with her or with me ...
P 
more: 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 cloak is so wide that it is enough to cover the bag standing on the ground on one side, and on the other to cover the entire bench. A very good place for joint photos with Andersen - it is convenient to sit next to him.
The roof of the hotel is supported by three interesting columns created using fairy tale characters. 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!
A witch's head is visible in her (almost said "legs") tail.
And in her hands she holds, apparently, the scalp of the prince or his mask. Probably, the author of the composition wanted to say by this that the mermaid always carries the image of the prince with her, but from the outside it looks exactly like a scalp.
Well. We have fulfilled all the program planned for that 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 a house, unfortunately, as usual, surrounded by some kind of strange fence, and therefore poorly visible. The 12-meter Andersen was looking at us, with a barely perceptible smile on his lips, but with undisguised sadness in his eyes.
During his lifetime, he was lonely and loved by no one. And I would like to hope that where he has gone forever, he is well and happy, because the heroes invented by him 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 is saturated with love there - our love, each of us, from that multimillion-strong 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 rise again for a new life; we are like this green reed: uprooted, it will not turn green again! People, on the contrary, have an immortal soul that lives forever, even after before the body turns to dust; then it flies into the blue sky, there, to the clear stars ... "- Andersen wrote in my favorite fairy tale "The Little Mermaid".
I believe that somewhere there his soul found its star...
