The one thing I knew about Copenhagen, since I was a child, is that it has a statue of a mermaid in the harbour. My mother visited on a school trip in the 1960's and had a black&white photo of her sitting next to the statue.
So I had strong romantic notions of a brave Danish mermaid heroicly challenging everything that Scandinavia's weather could throw at her in the middle of a cold sea.
Nothing could be further from the truth! Copenhagen's mermaid is (as I guess you would expect) very
little. She is perched on top of a medium-sized pile of rocks within 2-3 metres of the shore. Nowadays she even has a 'close-circuit TV' camera guarding her! She faces the shore, but is a great distance from the main city, so from the tourist boats you only see her back!!
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At Least Do This: Well, it is a good excuse to take one of the boat rides along Copenhagen's canals and harbours. Most of them stop briefly near aforesaid aquatic lady for a photo opportunity. The boat trips are well worth the money because Copenhagen's history is bound-up with its watery location.
The Little Mermaid represents a character created by the storywriter, Hans Christian Andersen. I think she fell in love with a human and the relationship didn't work out - a romantic tale a lot of us can relate to ;-)
The statue was put in place in 1913. Since that time it has been regularly vandalised - for example her head has been chopped-off and she has become the proud wearer of painted underwear. Hence the CCTV camera.
Alternative: Buy a postcard of the Mermaid and pretend to your friends you have been there :-)
There is lots and lots of other more exciting things to see in Copenhagen. It is a beautiful city.
The large Kastellet, with its five-pointed moat is nearby, so you can go to have a look at the statue if you have spare time.
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on Jan 25, 2005
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