Copenhagen Business Hotels

The Little Mermaid Statue. Just being a rather small statue of Mermaid, this girl became one of the most frequently photographed women in the world. Edward Eriksen created it by the request of Carl Jacobsen, the founder of beerhouses Carlsberg. 'The Mermaid' is a fairy-tale that came from the pen of Hans Christian Andersen. The main heroine saves the prince's life, when his ship suffered a shipwreck. To have an opportunity to marry him she has to sacrifice her beautiful hair and the fish's tail. In 1909 Carl Jacobsen saw the staging of this fairy-tale by the Danish Royal Ballet and under the strong impression of it he decided to present a statue to the city. In 1913 the Little Mermaid Statue was placed and soon it became the symbol of Copenhagen.

Eriksen's wife, the prim ballerina Ellen Price modeled for the statue and the face of the Mermaid very much takes after her. By the way, unknown vandals for several times beheaded the Mermaid, so the present head is not the original. In the 60s the Mermaid regularly became the centre of different protest actions, it was desecrated for many times. Those times passed, but nevertheless even nowadays from time to time graphite appears on it. The bronze statue is one of the most popular sights of Copenhagen, so in daytime it's very difficult to make a good photo of her without numerous tourists on the background. The best time for photographing the Mermaid and only the Mermaid is the sunrise, when there is almost nobody in the streets.
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