Den Lille Havfrue, Copenhagen’s mermaid on the harbour rocks
Published on 09/05/2026 at 22:20 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Den Lille Havfrue, known in English as the Little Mermaid, is a small bronze statue seated on a boulder at the edge of Kopenhagen’s harbour, where the Øresund meets the city’s waterfront. Created by Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen and unveiled on 23 August 1913, the figure links the everyday sense of the harbour with the imaginative world of Hans Christian Andersen’s nineteenth-century mermaid tale.
A fairy-tale figure translated into bronze
The story behind Den Lille Havfrue begins with Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “Den lille Havfrue”, first published in 1837 and later adapted for ballet on the stage of the Royal Danish Theatre in Kopenhagen.Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale In the early twentieth century, Danish brewer and art patron Carl Jacobsen, linked to the Carlsberg brewery, attended a ballet based on Andersen’s mermaid and decided to commission a sculpture for his home city.Carl Jacobsen’s commission after a ballet
Jacobsen turned to Edvard Eriksen, a Kopenhagen-born sculptor working in the early twentieth century, who designed Den Lille Havfrue as a seated mermaid whose upper body is human while the tail curves down over the stone beneath her.Edvard Eriksen’s bronze design Cast in bronze and set on a granite boulder, the statue was installed on the Langelinie waterfront and gifted to the City of Copenhagen, embedding a literary figure into the fabric of the harbour’s quays and walkways.gifted by Carl Jacobsen to the city
On the harbour edge at Langelinie
Den Lille Havfrue sits on a natural boulder along the Langelinie promenade, a stretch of quay and path in the Østerbro district on the north-eastern side of Kopenhagen’s inner harbour.Langelinie waterfront in Østerbro The statue faces outward over the water, with passing ferries and ships forming a moving backdrop and the long harbour-front path drawing a line of stone and paving behind her.
Set close to the water’s surface, the mermaid stands only a short distance from the harbour, so the rock, bronze and sea sit almost in one continuous plane. The boulder rises from the waterline and the mermaid’s tail and torso follow its contours, creating a compact ensemble of metal and stone against the flat expanse of the Øresund and the engineered edges of the quay.bronze figure on a granite boulder
A small statue with a broad cultural reach
The figure of Den Lille Havfrue is physically modest in size, a seated mermaid whose height is measured in a single metre range rather than towering above the promenade.compact dimensions of the statue Yet the statue has become one of the key symbols associated with Kopenhagen and Denmark, recognised internationally as a visual shorthand for Andersen’s story and the city’s connection to the sea.association with Copenhagen’s identity
The mermaid’s posture is quiet, with a turned head and folded arms, giving Den Lille Havfrue a contemplative character that reflects the longing and transition at the heart of Andersen’s tale. Over more than a century since the unveiling in 1913, the statue has remained on its harbour boulder at Langelinie, maintaining the link between a nineteenth-century literary figure, early twentieth-century public art patronage and the working waterfront of Denmark’s capital.
Visiting Den Lille Havfrue: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- Den Lille Havfrue stands on the Langelinie waterfront in the Østerbro district of Kopenhagen, on the harbour side north-east of the city centre, and is reached on foot from Østerport station.
- The statue is set on a boulder directly beside the harbour, so the immediate terrain consists of stone quays, steps and paved walkways along the water’s edge.
- The official language is Danish and the currency is the Danish krone.
Searching for Den Lille Havfrue on social platforms
These links open searches for Den Lille Havfrue on each platform.Frequently asked questions about Den Lille Havfrue
Where is Den Lille Havfrue located in Kopenhagen?
Den Lille Havfrue stands on a granite boulder along the Langelinie promenade in the Østerbro district, on the harbour edge north-east of Kopenhagen’s city centre.
What should visitors expect when seeing the statue?
Visitors encounter a compact bronze mermaid seated low on a harbour boulder beside the water, framed by stone quays, passing ships and the long waterfront walk.
What makes Den Lille Havfrue distinctive among harbour landmarks?
The statue’s small scale, seated posture and explicit link to Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 mermaid tale make Den Lille Havfrue a distinctive fusion of literature, sculpture and working harbour.
