General

The story is about a young mermaid who fell in love with a prince from the land, and often came up to the edge of the water to look for her love.

The idea for the statue originated in 1909 when Carl Jacobsen, the son of the famous brewer Carlsberg, saw the ballet version of the "Little Mermaid" and was so impressed that he commissioned sculptor Edvard Eriksen to make a bronze statue on Copenhagen’s waterfront.The face of the statue was modeled after Ellen Price, the solo dancer of the ballet, but because she didn't agree to poze nude, the model for the body was Eriksen's wife. Today, the statue is the most famous symbol of Denmark, as she stares dreamily from the entrance of Copenhagen harbour.

Compared to other famous stautes all over the world, the relatively small size of the statue typically surprises tourists visiting for the first time. The Little Mermaid statue is only 1.25 metres high and weighs around 175 kg.

The statue has been through a lot in the past, suffering from vandalism more than 10 times. Once, it's arm was cut off and it was decapitated twice. On the 8th of March 2005, it was completely painted in green, and in red a couple of times. At one point, the authorities were even thinking of moving the Mermaid away from the shore, so it wouldn't be accessible to the people.