Who did not read or had the the little mermaid tale? And if it has not been in written format, then the animated film has conquered children less Gutenbergnians. For some time now, Northern Europe has been very present thanks to novels, television series and films ...
But if we do a little history, at least Denmark has been present in our lives for a little longer. Why? Well, for the stories of Hans Christian Andersen! He is the author of The Sirenita, The Emperor's New Costumes, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina and many other classic stories. The Little Mermaid is one of its most popular and Copenhagen has honored it with a statue.
Hans Christian Andersen
Was XNUMXth century writer, Danish, who became very famous with his fairy tales although it was not the only thing he wrote. At first he had a hard time translating all the stories he had heard as a child and they were not very successful, but by the mid-XNUMXth century the publication of several volumes of fairy tales was giving him recognition and money.
He was an only child, he had a sad childhood with the premature death of his father, he was abused at the school where he lived as an intern and after trying his luck as an actor and singer, he finally inclined to writing. Regarding his love life, those who studied his biography have come to the conclusion that Hans I was bisexual and that he liked women that way, like men, although he felt a certain repulsion, perhaps of religious origin or linked to his early abuses, for sexual life.
Andersen became ill with liver cancer and died on August 4, 1874 in a house near Copenhagen, and his remains rest in a grave in the Frederiksbergs cemetery, along with a friendly couple.
The little mermaid and her statue
The story of the little mermaid is the story of a young and beautiful little mermaid who wishes to become a human. She is a princess who has five sisters and according to custom when a princess turns fifteen she is allowed to swim to the surface to see the world. The little mermaid grows up listening to the stories of her sisters so she only wants to see that human world about which she has heard so many wonders.
Thus, when he turns fifteen he swims to the surface and it is the moment in which see a human prince aboard a ship. Obvious, Fall in love. Obviously, there is a terrible storm, the ship sinks and she saves it. From then on the little mermaid longs for him and wants to become human to be with him, even when human beings die earlier and have such contradictory feelings. Thus, he is encouraged to visit a witch to help her turn your tail into legs.
The price will be your voice, so even if she meets her beloved prince, she can never speak to him. In addition, walking will be painful for her and all that suffering will only make sense if she gets the love of the prince. If this happens then it will have a human soul, if not it will end up dissolving in the sea like its foam. Luckily he meets the prince and although he does not have a voice he dances wonderfully and manages to enchant him, but nothing will be easy.
At the end the prince has an arranged marriage with a neighboring princess who mistakes who rescued him from the sea so everything is given so that the little mermaid dies of love. Then, her sisters go to look for her and give her a knife: if she kills the prince and his blood touches her, she will be a mermaid again.
But she cannot kill the couple so she throws herself from the boat, the waters surround her and when we think she will melt into foam she becomes a spirit of the air, with a soul of her own, who will have the opportunity to ascend to the Kingdom of Heaven. .
The tale was first published in 1837 and it has had many adaptations as it has been made into a film, animation, anime, that is, Japanese animation, and even a musical. Personally, I loved anime because for a change, the Japanese do know about drama.
But what about the little mermaid statue? The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, a guy who loved ballet inspired by Andersen's tale. The model was a dancer named Ellen Price and the sculptor was Edvard Eriksen. Price only wanted his face to be used so the naked body is that of the sculptor's wife.
The statue it's bronze and it was revealed to the public in August 1913. She was there until 2010 when the Danish government temporarily transferred her to the Shanghai Expo. Until the year 2029 the statue is copyrighted so copies cannot be made without permission from the Eriksen family.
The Little Mermaid of Conpenhagen is on the Langelinje pier and it is already over a hundred years old. In addition to bronze, it also has granite and the truth is that in its century and peak of life it has suffered several vandalism. Twice his head was removed, once an arm and many times it has been stained with paint. Luckily it was always restored and is still there, welcoming the port of Copenhagen.
What else can be said about the Little Mermaid of Copenhagen? Well, some curiosities: receive more than a million visits per year and also It is the most photographed statue in the country. Although Andersen's story tells of a mermaid with one tail, the statue has two legs / tail. There are 14 copies in the world, one in Spain and according to what they say, the statue on the dock is not the original and the original piece is in the hands of the sculptor's family.