Far out at sea the water´s as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower, and as clear as the purest glass; but it´s very deep, deeper than any anchor can reach. Many church steeples would have to be piled up one above the other to reach from the bottom of the sea to the surface. Right down there live the sea people.

This is the way Hans Christian Andersen better known as H.C. Andersen starts his famous fairytale about the youngest of the 6 daughters of the sea king. The fairytale was published for the first time the 7’th of April 1837.

Many people loved the fairytale and a ballet was made of it, Music composed by Fini Henriques. The art lover Carl Jacobsen ( Carlsberg ) was so fascinated by the fairytale, that he asked Edward Eriksen to make a sculpture of the little mermaid. Edward Eriksen’s used his wife as a model, as he always did. “The Little Mermaid” was placed on Langelinie in Copenhagen the 23’rd of August 1913 as a present from Mr. Jacobsen to the Danish people.

Since then “The Little Mermaid” has been photographed and in mired by millions of people worldwide, and has become a national symbol of Denmark