The Little Mermaid is Denmark’s most famous statue, a 1.25 metre bronze tribute to Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairytale, sitting on a rock at Copenhagen’s Langelinie promenade since 1913.
I have lost count of how many times friends have visited me in Copenhagen. The first thing they ask, almost without fail, is whether we are going to see The Little Mermaid. I usually warn them. She is small. She sits on a rock that is often slick with rain. You will be surrounded by tour groups taking the same photograph.
And yet, after more than a decade in Denmark, I still walk down to Langelinie a few times a year. There is something about her quiet posture that gets under your skin. She is not trying to impress you. That, in itself, is very Danish.
Here are the key points on The Little Mermaid:
- Origin and unveiling: The Little Mermaid was unveiled on 23 August 1913, commissioned by Carlsberg heir Carl Jacobsen and sculpted by Edvard Eriksen.
- Two muses, one statue: Ballerina Ellen Price modelled the face, while Eriksen’s wife Eline posed for the body after Price refused to model nude.
- Global icon: Over a million visitors come each year, making The Little Mermaid one of the most photographed statues in Europe.
- A target for protest: She has been decapitated twice, lost an arm, been blown off her rock with explosives, and painted countless times.
- Still copyrighted: The Eriksen family enforces copyright on her image until 2029, and has sued Danish newspapers over photos.
The Story Behind The Little Mermaid Statue
The Little Mermaid was unveiled on 23 August 1913. She has watched over Copenhagen’s harbour for more than 110 years. According to Wikipedia, the statue is bronze, weighs around 175 kilograms, and stands just 1.25 metres tall.
Her source material is older still. Hans Christian Andersen published Den lille havfrue in 1837. The story is darker than the 1989 Disney version that most of us grew up with. There is no happy ending. The mermaid dies and dissolves into sea foam.
Who Commissioned The Little Mermaid?
The man behind the statue was Carl Jacobsen, son of Carlsberg’s founder. In 1909, he watched a ballet version of Andersen’s tale at the Royal Danish Theatre. He was so moved that he commissioned a statue from sculptor Edvard Eriksen.
Jacobsen donated the finished work to the City of Copenhagen. That detail matters. The Little Mermaid is technically owned by the public, paid for by a beer heir who fell in love with a dance.
The Real Faces Behind the Statue
Eriksen first asked the ballerina Ellen Price to model. She had played the mermaid on stage. Price agreed to sit for her face but refused to pose nude. As reported by the Statens Museum for Kunst and other Danish art historians, Eriksen’s wife Eline ended up modelling the body.
So the statue is a hybrid. The face of a famous dancer sits on the body of the sculptor’s wife. It is a small detail, but it always makes me smile when I tell visitors the story.
Why The Little Mermaid Matters to Denmark
Foreign visitors often expect something grand. Instead they get a quiet bronze figure looking out to sea. The first reaction is usually surprise, sometimes disappointment. The statue regularly tops lists of the world’s most underwhelming tourist attractions.
I think that is exactly the point. Danish culture rarely shouts. It nudges. The Little Mermaid embodies the country’s quiet self image, more comfortable with melancholy than with spectacle. To understand what Copenhagen is known for, start here.
A Cultural Ambassador for Copenhagen
The Little Mermaid attracts over one million visitors a year, according to Visit Denmark. That makes her one of the most visited landmarks in the country. She features on postcards, on chocolate boxes, and in every tour guide.
In 2010, she was lent to Shanghai for the World Expo. It was the first time she had left her rock since 1913. The City of Copenhagen replaced her temporarily with a video installation by artist Ai Weiwei.
A History of Vandalism and Protest
If you want to understand modern Danish politics, study what people have done to The Little Mermaid. She has been used as a billboard for almost every cause imaginable. The list is long, strange, and revealing.
Her head has been sawn off twice. The first time, in 1964, the Situationist artist Jørgen Nash was suspected but never charged. The second decapitation came in 1998. Her right arm was hacked off in 1984. In 2003 she was blown off her rock with explosives.
Paint, Politics, and Provocation
The paint attacks are almost routine. She has been doused in red to protest whaling, in pink for LGBTQ rights, and in white for women’s suffrage anniversaries. In 2017 someone scrawled “Free Hong Kong” on her base. In 2020 she was tagged with the words “Racist Fish”, a reaction tied to the global debate over public monuments.
Each time she is cleaned, repaired, or replaced. The original moulds, still held by the Eriksen family, make full restoration possible. Resilience is built into her, almost by design.
The Strange Case of Her Copyright
Here is a detail that surprises most expats. The Little Mermaid is still under copyright. Edvard Eriksen died in 1959, and Danish law protects his work for 70 years after his death. That means her image is protected until 2029.
The Eriksen family has used this aggressively. As reported by The Guardian and Danish daily Berlingske, the family has sued newspapers for publishing photos of the statue. One famous case involved Berlingske Tidende, which had to pay damages for printing her image. Imagine suing a paper for showing a public statue. Only in Denmark.
Visiting The Little Mermaid: A Practical Guide
If you are visiting Copenhagen, The Little Mermaid is almost impossible to skip. She is free to see and open 24 hours a day. The address is Langelinie, 2100 København Ø.
That said, I always tell people to come with realistic expectations. She is part of a longer walk, not a destination on her own. Plan a loop and the experience improves dramatically.
How to Get to The Little Mermaid
The easiest route is on foot or by bike from the city centre. From Kongens Nytorv it is about a 25 minute walk through some of Copenhagen’s prettiest neighbourhoods. You can also take the Copenhagen public transport network.
The nearest train station is Østerport, about 10 minutes away on foot. Buses 26 and 27 stop near Langelinie. If you have a Copenhagen Card, sightseeing boats from Nyhavn also pass the statue on the harbour route.
Best Time to Visit The Little Mermaid
Summer mornings before 9am are magical. The light is soft, the tour buses have not arrived, and you can actually hear the water lap against her rock. From May to August
