The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark

The mermaid statue was created in bronze by Edvard Eriksen, and was unveiled in August of 1913.

Eriksen was commissioned in January 1909 by Carl Jacobsen of Carlsberg Breweries to create the statue. Carl was fascinated by a ballet at the Copenhagen Royal Theatre based on the fairy tale about the mermaid, and asked the star of the ballet, Ellen Price de Plane, to model for the statue.  Price declined modeling in the nude for the sculpture, and Eriksen instead enlisted his wife Eline Eriksen (who modeled for several other of his works) to model for the mermaid statue.   A popular story has it that Price modeled for the face and Eline Eriksen for the body, but in actual fact Eline Eriksen was the model for the entire sculpture.  This is easily seen when comparing the statue's face with photos of Eline Eriksen, and the faces of Eriksen's other statues.

Hans Christian Andersen's tale

The statue depicts the heroine of Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale, a story considerably darker than most modern retellings. To gain human legs and a chance at the prince's love, the mermaid gives up her voice and tongue to the sea witch, and is warned that every step will feel like walking on knives. She is also told that if the prince marries another, she will dissolve into sea foam. When he does marry another, her sisters bring her a knife, bought from the witch with their hair, and urge her to kill him and return to the sea. She refuses, throws the knife into the water and herself after it — but instead of dying she becomes a "daughter of the air," able to earn an immortal soul through three hundred years of good deeds. Eriksen's statue captures this wistful, unresolved mood rather than any triumphant moment.

This mermaid statue is one of the top tourist attractions in Copenhagen, and has become an icon and a symbol of both Copenhagen and Denmark. While the story by Hans Christian Andersen was more than enough to make this mermaid statue known around the world, the Disney movies have only added to the fame and the appeal of this statue.

There are copies of the statue - with some differences - in a number of locations around the world, which in some cases are authorized by Eriksen’s heirs, and in other cases have been allowed to remain without specific authorization from the heirs.

The Little Mermaid abroad

In 2010 the original statue left Denmark for the first time in its history, travelling to the World Expo in Shanghai, where it stood in the Danish pavilion in a pool filled with water shipped from Copenhagen's harbour. The statue drew several million visitors over the course of the Expo, while a live video link allowed people back home to watch her empty rock at Langelinie.

The mermaid statue on display in Copenhagen is the actual original, but other copies and sizes were made as well - which is a good thing, as the original has been vandalized several times, and then lovingly restored using the copies.   Several sizes are available for purchase at the official website for this most famous of all mermaid statues.

A history of vandalism and restoration

The statue's fame has made it a repeated target. On the night of 24–25 April 1964 her head was sawn off; it was never recovered, and the Danish artist Jørgen Nash later claimed responsibility. A new head was cast from Eriksen's original mould and the statue restored. In 1984 part of her arm was sawn off by two men and later returned. An attempted decapitation in 1990 left a deep cut in her neck, and in 1998 she was beheaded a second time, the head returned anonymously and reattached. In 2003 she was knocked from her boulder with explosives. She has also been covered in paint on numerous occasions, including red paint for anti-whaling protests, and daubed with political slogans. Each time, she has been repaired — one reason Eriksen's authorized copies and original molds have proved so valuable.

While the statue is often seen as being smaller than expected, it is actually larger than it appears, about 25% larger than lifesize.  The spectacular location and the grand features of ocean, harbor and shoreline around the statue contribute to make it look small in comparison.  The original statue here is the only true copy of the statue in this size - according to sculptor Edvard Eriksen's will, only smaller copies may be produced, with Copenhagen Harbor having the only full-size statue.