The Little Mermaid Audio Guide

The Little Mermaid: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to The Little Mermaid

   Welcome to Langelinie, on the northeast side of Copenhagen's harbor, where a small bronze figure sits on a granite rock at the water's edge. This is The Little Mermaid, called Den Lille Havfrue in Danish, or simply Havfruen by most locals. Here is the first surprise: she is only 125 centimeters tall, smaller than most adults. Yet she is one of the first images people picture when they hear the word Copenhagen. She draws more than a million visitors a year on her own, and many more people stroll the wider Langelinie area during their stay. She is outdoors, free to visit and open at any hour, and the statue is wheelchair accessible. As you walk down the Langelinie pier, notice how she gazes out over the water, as if still waiting for something. Over the next few minutes, we will look at the fairy tale behind her, the brewer who gave her to the city, the astonishing run of misfortunes she has survived, and the neighborhood around her.

2. 02

   From Fairy Tale to Bronze

   The story begins with Hans Christian Andersen, whose 1837 fairy tale tells of a mermaid who gives up her underwater life for love. The statue arrived more than 70 years later, so for decades the mermaid lived only on the page. The spark that brought her into bronze was a night at the theater. The brewer Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of the Carlsberg brewery, was moved by a ballet performance of the story at the Royal Danish Theatre. He commissioned the sculptor Edvard Eriksen to give the tale a physical form. The result was unveiled on the twenty-third of August, 1913, as a gift from Jacobsen to the City of Copenhagen. Some people see in her a symbol of longing and quiet sacrifice. Others say she also stands for Andersen himself and for the Danish storytelling culture he made famous around the world. Look at her posture, seated, turned toward the water, and you can see how the sculptor captured a creature caught between two worlds.

3. 03

   A Survivor on a Rock

   For a statue meant to express longing, she has had a remarkably turbulent life. She has lost her head twice and had an arm sawn off. She has been doused in paint, covered in political slogans, and at one point blown partly off her rock. Yet every time, Copenhagen has carefully restored her to her place at the harbor. Her resilience and continual restoration are often read as a sign of the city's commitment to preserving its cultural symbols. On several occasions she has also been dressed up and fitted with props, in protest or in support of political and cultural causes. In July 2020, the words racist fish were painted on her pedestal during the Black Lives Matter protests. So as you look at her, remember that this small figure has become a kind of public noticeboard. People project their anger, their humor and their causes onto her, and she keeps returning to her rock.

4. 04

   The Mermaid Who Went to Shanghai

   In 2010, something remarkable happened: the Little Mermaid left her rock. She was sent to China and displayed for six months at the World Expo in Shanghai, where she rested in a pool of water brought from the Copenhagen harbor. It was a rare break from her usual spot, and it showed her to millions of people far from home. While she was away, a display created by the renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei stood in her place, as a gesture of cultural exchange. Her harbor setting has its own flavor too. In the 1960s, popular postcards showed her with a cargo ship from the shipping giant Maersk sailing in the distance behind her, a reminder that this is a working harbor city. Since the 1980s, there has even been talk of moving her farther into the harbor. For now, she stays at the water's edge, where the shore and the sea meet, a fitting home for a girl from the deep.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Before you move on, take a last look at her from the pier and think about how much story is packed into so small a figure: a fairy tale, a ballet, a brewer's generosity, a sculptor's craft and more than a century of Copenhagen's moods. The neighborhood invites you to keep exploring. The Citadel, known as Kastellet, and the Gefion Fountain are close by. The fountain features the Norse goddess Gefjun, who legend says separated Sweden from the island of Zealand. The National Gallery of Denmark is roughly 20 minutes away on foot, and it holds work connected to the same nineteenth-century Golden Age that produced Andersen's stories. For something quite different, look for The Genetically Modified Little Mermaid, a modern, abstract sculpture near the original that offers another artistic take on the same icon. Which version of the mermaid will stay with you longer?