The Little Mermaid, Bronze statue at Langelinie in Copenhagen, Denmark
The Little Mermaid is a 1.25-metre bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen, showing a nude young woman seated on a rounded granite boulder at the water's edge on the Langelinie promenade. Her hair is tied at the nape, her right hand rests on her thigh, and her left arm lies across her lap; greenish patina fills the crevices of the dark brown bronze.
Carl Jacobsen from the Carlsberg brewery commissioned Edvard Eriksen to create her, and she was unveiled on August 23, 1913. Since then she has remained at this spot, witnessing decades of change in the city around her.
The name comes from the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, which tells of a mermaid who leaves her underwater world behind. Today she sits quietly on her rock by the water, while visitors from around the world stop to see her and take photographs.
The statue stands on its boulder at the water's edge on the Langelinie promenade, north of Churchill Park and the Kastellet citadel. It is small, 1.25 metres, and close to the shore, so it is reached on foot along the quay. Officials have considered moving it several metres out into the harbour to stop people climbing on it, but as of September 2022 it remains on dry land.
Edvard Eriksen worked with two models: his wife Eline posed for the body, while the ballerina Ellen Price lent her face. This collaboration explains the particular mix of grace and reserve in the figure's posture.
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