The poet from Odense
Hans Christian Andersen was born on 2 April 1805 in the humble home of a poor family in Odense on the island of Funen. His father was a shoemaker, his mother a washerwoman, and the boy grew up in modest circumstances. Yet he became one of the greatest names in world literature. When he died in Copenhagen on 4 August 1875, his fairy tales had already been translated into countless languages; today they exist in more than 150 tongues – only the Bible has been translated into more.
Andersen wrote novels, travelogues and plays, but it is his fairy tales that made him immortal. They carry a simple, spoken tone, a sharp portrayal of human nature and a double meaning in which both children and adults find their own layer of sense.
The immortal fairy tales
Andersen's tales are among the best-loved stories ever written. The most famous include:
- The Little Mermaid (1837) – about the mermaid who sacrifices everything for love
- The Ugly Duckling (1843) – the transformation from outcast to beautiful swan
- Thumbelina (1835) – the tiny girl no larger than a thumb
- The Emperor's New Clothes (1837) – on vanity and the child who tells the truth
- The Little Match Girl (1845) – a heartbreaking Christmas tale
- The Snow Queen (1844) – the great story of Kai and Gerda
These stories have been told, filmed and reinterpreted for generations, most recently by Disney, whose animations draw directly on Andersen's imagination.
The museum in Odense
In 2021 the Hans Christian Andersen House in Odense reopened in an entirely new form. The Japanese star architecture firm led by Kengo Kuma designed a labyrinthine, half-underground museum in which gardens, circles and curved walls mirror the world of the tales. Here one steps into the poet's universe rather than simply looking at objects behind glass. The museum has become one of Funen's greatest attractions.
Nearby stands Andersen's Childhood Home, the little half-timbered house where the family lived from 1807. With its low ceilings and simple rooms it offers a moving glimpse of the poverty from which the poet emerged.
The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen
No symbol of Denmark is more famous than the Little Mermaid (Den Lille Havfrue), the bronze statue on a rock at Langelinie in Copenhagen's harbour. It was created by the sculptor Edvard Eriksen and unveiled in 1913, commissioned by the brewer Carl Jacobsen, who had been captivated by a ballet based on Andersen's tale. The modest, wistful figure gazing out over the water attracts millions of visitors each year and has become one of the world's most photographed monuments.
The fairytale castles
Denmark's castles add to the fairytale picture. On Funen, Egeskov Castle rises from the middle of a lake – Europe's best-preserved moated manor, built in 1554. With its towers, spires and immaculate gardens it seems lifted straight from an Andersen story.
On Zealand stands the magnificent Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, built in Renaissance style under Christian IV at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Today it houses the Museum of National History, and its towers reflected in the castle lake are among the most beautiful in northern Europe.
In Andersen's footsteps
To travel in Hans Christian Andersen's footsteps is to travel through the very soul of Denmark. From the cobbled streets of Odense, past the towers of the fairytale castles, to the mermaid's rock by the harbour, everywhere one meets the imagination that raised a poor shoemaker's son to world fame. Andersen's legacy lives on – not only in the books, but in the image of Denmark as the land of fairy tales itself.