Sculpture Copyright
The Partnership pf Sculptor Edward Eriksen's Heirs

About The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is one of Denmark’s biggest tourist attractions.
The statue illustrating Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale of the same name was created by sculptor Edvard Eriksen and was donated to the City of Copenhagen by patron of art Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg Breweries.

The statue was inspired by ballerina Ellen Price, who danced the lead role in the ballet The Little Mermaid in 1909 and she made a great impression on Carl Jacobsen. As Ellen Price, however, did not want to pose in the nude, the statue was modelled on the sculptor’s wife Eline Eriksen. 
The statue, cast in bronze, is only 125cm tall and weighs 175kg.

The Little Mermaid was placed on Langelinie on 23 August 1913. The statue has repeatedly been subjected to vandalism, as for example
on 11 September 2003 when unknown perpetrators toppled her from her stone.

EXPO 2010 Shanghai will be held from 1 May to 31 October 2010 and
the Little Mermaid will be away from her rock from early April to November 2010.