Copenhagen - The Little Mermaid Statue

Date of visit: 15th October 2015

I’m thanking Anne for convincing and insisting that we walked another further miles to see the Little Mermaid statue as she said, if we shared a photo of us and this mermaid, everyone would have known that we are indeed in Copenhagen. I dedicated this entry to her and to our years of friendship being loyal to each other. The time was not even 3 pm by the time we found the statue, hence, we strolling really slowly to enjoy some of other interesting memorial/monument built near the Little Mermaid area apart from St Alban's Church and Gefion Fountain. All photos that I shared in this entry were snapped within the area, so very beautiful indeed.

The Little Mermaid is a bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen, depicting a mermaid character that was made famous from the fairy tale work of Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen. The sculpture is displayed on a rock by the waterside at the Langelinie promenade area. It is measured 1.25 metres height and weighs about 175 kilograms. The statue was sculptured based on the books character, small and unimposing statue which becoming a Copenhagen icon. It has been a major tourist attraction since 1913. In recent decades it has become a popular target for defacement by vandals and political activists too.

The Mermaid in Copenhagen is among iconic statues that symbolize cities; similarly to the Manneken Pis in Brussels, the Statue of Liberty in New York and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. In several cases, cities have commissioned statues for such a purpose, such as with Singapore's Merlion.

Bust and statue of Princess Marie of Orleans

The Langelinie Promenade 

The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, who had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale in Copenhagen's Royal Theatre and had asked the ballerina, Ellen Price, to model for the statue. The sculptor Edvard Eriksen created the bronze statue, which was unveiled on 23rd August 1913. The statue's head was modelled after Price, but as the ballerina did not agree to model in the nude, the sculptor's wife, Eline Eriksen, was used for the body. Apparently, Carl Jacobsen has contributed a lot to Copenhagen tourism, i.e. in creating an art museum in The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek as well in a short while owning the Hotel D’Angleterre in Kongens Nytorv.

The Copenhagen City Council arranged to move the statue to Shanghai at the Danish Pavilion for the duration of the Expo 2010 (May to October), the first time it had been moved officially from its perch since it was installed almost a century earlier. While the statue was away in Shanghai an authorised copy was displayed on a rock in the lake in Copenhagen's nearby Tivoli Gardens. Copenhagen officials have considered moving the statue several meters out into the harbour to discourage vandalism and to prevent tourists from climbing onto it, but as of May 2014 the statue remains on dry land at the water side.

 

To refresh my memory repeatedly watching the animated movie with my children when they were still at young aged, the characters from Hans Christian Andersen fiction are about:-

• The Princess Marina, aged sixteen years old. Princess of the undersea kingdom and the youngest of six daughters. She is a blonde, sweet and beautiful mermaid and is known for having the most beautiful voice in the kingdom. She is curious about the world and likes collecting items that come from the surface.
• Fritz is a blue Atlantic dolphin calf, and Marina's best friend. His curiosity is great, but not nearly as great as Marina's. In fact, Fritz loves Marina. However, Marina never knows his feelings. He misses Marina terribly and worries about her constantly after she leaves the sea.
• Prince Fjord is the man that Marina felt deeply in love with. He is brave and well-trained in the military arts. The Prince dislikes the idea of an arranged marriage. He has always wanted to marry the girl who rescued him. Sadly that he does not remember that Marina is the one who rescued him, until but too late in the end of the film.
• The Sea Witch, unlike other versions of the story, the sea witch is not evil. She is shrewd, but has no interest in harming anyone. She did however sink two ships. She is a gigantic devil ray. Her special favorite is lifeblood. She is willing to accept Marina's voice as payment for the enchantment to turn Marina into a human.
• Princess Cecilia is the black raven-haired princess of the Kingdom of Suomi. She tended to the Prince after Marina rescued him and had to leave him on the beach. He had no memory of being rescued by Marina, and Cecilia is the first person he saw when he woke up.

The Little Mermaid is indeed a very sad story, heart breaking to too many, hence, most of the time, being a selfish and hopeless human being, we usually changed how the story supposed to end. That Marina’s sacrifice was worthy and Prince Fjord loves her with all his life. As my children and I grew older and matured, I have to accept the fact that I would not want to read nor watch this story anymore. Let’s the assumption of the Little Mermaid Marina and his Prince Fjord “living happily ever after” remains forever. It's a fiction anyway, we had every right to change it.

Copenhagen - St. Alban's Church & The Gefion Fountain

Date of visit: 15th October 2015

St Alban's Church & The Gefion Fountain

I was hunting this unknown church (have no clue about its existence) that I spotted while exploring Langelinie Park because of its beauty and it look so ancient and neat. We didn’t entered nor peek inside due to time constraint. St. Alban Church is locally often referred to simply as the English Church, an Anglican church located right at Langelinie Street. It was built from 1885 to 1887 (just in 2 years) for the growing English congregation in the city. It was designed by Arthur Blomfield as a traditional English parish church in the Gothic Revival style, situated in a peaceful park setting at the end of Amaliegade in the northern part of the city centre, next to the citadel Kastellet and the Gefion Fountain and Langelinie Park.

At first, I was running around in wrong direction to reach the St Alban's Church

The church is part of Church of England's Diocese in Europe and is dedicated to Saint Alban, the first martyr of Great Britain. British community in Denmark has settled in within Elsinore area in the early 16th century. The town was an important logistical hub for the collection of Sound Dues. A community of Scots was the first to arrive which had a Scottish altar dedicated to Saint Jacob, Saint Andrew and the Scottish Saint Ninian in the local Saint Olaf's Church. The altar has now been moved to the National Museum of Denmark.

An increasing British community made an appeal to the Prince of Wales in 1864 to build a church, and his consort, the Danish-born Princess Alexandra, took it upon her to assist. She managed to raise funds as well as provided a very attractive site for its construction when she persuaded the Danish Ministry of War to grant permission to have the church built on the esplanade outside the citadel Kastellet. The foundation stone of St. Alban's Church was laid on 19 September 1885. The church was designed by Arthur Blomfield. It was consecrated two years later on 17 September 1887. A large display of European royalty, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, King Christian IX and Queen Consort Louise of Denmark, Tsar Alexander III and Tsarina Maria Feodorovna of Russia and George I and Olga of Greece attended it's opening day on 17^th September 1887.

St. Alban's Church is designed as a traditional English church by the architect who also designed a number of parish churches around Britain. He received the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal in 1891. It is built in the Gothic Revival style inspired by the Early English Style, also known as Lancet Gothic.

The church is built in limestone from the Faxe south of Copenhagen, knapped flint from Stevns and Aland stone for the spire. The conspicuous use of flint as a building material, unusual in Denmark, is another typical trait from England where it is commonly seen in church buildings in the south of the country, particularly East Anglia. The tiles on the roof are from Broseley in Shropshire. This is the only building spotted in Copenhagen which does not blend well with the rest of popular attractions, in colorful tones. Though it's dull but it stand as a unique kind of building that has to be outstanding to some people.

Seated not far from St Alban Church is the famous Gefion Fountain. The fountain features a large-scale group of animal figures being driven by the Norse goddess Gefjun. It is located in Nordre Toldbod area next to Kastellet and immediately south of Langelinie. It is the largest monument in Copenhagen which is used as a wishing well.

The fountain was donated to the city of Copenhagen by the Carlsberg Foundation on the occasion of the brewery’s 50-year anniversary. It was originally supposed to be located in the main town square outside city hall, but it was decided instead to build it near Oresund in its current location near Kastellet. It was designed by Danish artist Anders Bundgaard, who sculpted the naturalistic figures between 1897 till 1899. The basins and decorations were completed in 1908. The fountain was first activated on 14^th July 1908.

The fountain underwent extensive renovations in 1999, where it was out of commission for many years. It was re-inaugurated in September 2004. The fountain depicts the mythical story of the creation of the island of Zealand on which Copenhagen is located. The legend appears in Ragnarsdrapa, a 9th-century Skaldic poem recorded in the 13th century Prose Edda, and in Ynglinga saga as recorded in Snorri Sturluson's 13th century Heimskringla.

Spotted the coins, anyone?

According to Ynglinga mythology, the Swedish king Gylfi promised Gefjun the territory she could plow in a night. She turned her four sons into oxen, and the territory they plowed out of the earth was then thrown into the Danish sea between Scania and the island of Fyn. The hole became a lake called Logrinn and Leginum. Snorri identifies the lake Loginn, as the lake of Old Sigtuna west of Stockholm, i.e., Lake Malaren, an identification that he returns to later in the Saga of Olaf the Holy. The same identification of Loginn/Leginum as Malaren appears in Asmundar saga kappabana, where it is the lake by Agnafit which appeared also in Knytlinga saga.

Last photo of the church snapped from they way we exited after touring Little Mermaid statue

Whatever the story was, I opined that the whole area, I mean the Langelinie Park, St Alban Church and Gefion Fountain has accompanied the lone Little Mermaid statue seated in the same vicinity, a bit further to the ocean. 

Copenhagen - Langelinie Park

Date of visit: 15th October 2015

Words are not enough to express our happiness when we walked towards the Langelinie Park. A colorful autumn leaves has filled the view from far distance, with so much glory and we could not contain our excitement when lake was what we first encountered. We sat to enjoy the view at the bench, snapped countless photo and Anne has changed her Facebook profile photo that night as soon as we got back to the hotel. The view and its ambiance suited everything that we encountered and achieved that day.

Anne's present Facebook profile photo

The Langelinie Park stretches from Esplanaden Street in the south to Langelinie Marina and the base of the Langelinie Pier in the north. We were walking from Bredgade Street from the Marble Church until we saw a T-junction at the end of the road. Formally, it includes Kastellet (the best preserved fortresses) although this site is generally referred to under its own name. The park contains numerous monuments, buildings, a marina, statues and a playground. Among these are the St Alban Church, Gefion Fountain, the Ivar Huitfeldt Column and The Little Mermaid.

Langelinie, means “Long Line” is a pier, promenade and park in central Copenhagen, Denmark, and home of the statue of The Little Mermaid. The area has for centuries been a popular destination for excursions and strolls in Copenhagen. Most cruise ships arriving in Copenhagen also berth at Langelinie Pier.

Kastellet

The name Langelinie goes back to the middle of the 17th century where it referred to an idyllic path along the Oresund coast that rounded the citadel Kastellet and continued towards a lime kiln north of the city. For a long time, the stretch was a military area where civilians were not granted unrestricted access. Under a general order from 1819, soldiers were required to "throw water in the head and on the breast and to cool their feet in the water".

Eventually a beach promenade and a park for the Bourgeoisie were made but with access only on the payment of a toll to keep the more common people out. Not until a public uprising in 1848 did the area become open to everybody.

The expansion of the city and the increasing industrialization soon made it clear that the city's harbor was becoming too small and in the same time old plans to create a free port were revived. In a plan from 1862 it was decided to dig out the area to allow access for the largest ocean-going vessels and use the materials removed for landfills along the coast. A suggestion to make all of Amager into a duty-free zone was abolished and instead it was decided to create a free port in the area north of Kastellet at the site of the Langelinie promenade. 

The beginning of the work was prompted by Germany's construction of the Kiel Canal that was started off in 1887 which actually threatened Copenhagen's position. In 1894 the work was completed and Copenhagen had got an entirely new harbor front. The old beach promenade with Bourgeois mansions had turned into a heavily traffic street Strandboullevarden located several hundred meters inland and the beach where the soldiers had been required to cool their feet had turned into harbor basins. Langelinie became now a pier on the other side of that harbor basin.

Copenhagen - Marble Church

Date of visit: 15th October 2015

Locals called the Marble Church, which is popular among the tourist as Frederik's Church. It is an Evangelical Lutheran church and forms the focal point of the Frederiksstaden district as it is located due west of Amalienborg Palace. The church was designed by the architect Nicolai Eigtved in 1740 and was along with the rest of other development in Frederiksstaden, intended to commemorate the 300 years jubilee of the first coronation of a member of the House of Oldenburg.

Frederick's Church has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31m. The dome rests on 12 columns, said to be inspired from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The foundation stone was set by king Frederick V on October 31, 1749, but the construction was slowed by budget cuts and the death of the Architect in 1754. In 1770, the original plans for the church were totally abandoned by Johann Friedrich Struensee. The church was left incomplete and, in spite of several initiatives to complete it, stood as a ruin for nearly 150 years.

In 1874, Andreas Frederik Krieger, Denmark's Finance Minister at the time, sold the ruins of the uncompleted church and the church square to Carl Frederik Tietgen for 100,000 local money. It was not paid on cash term but on the condition that the buyer, Tietgen to build a church in a style similar to the original plans and to donate it back to the state when it was completed. The buyer, in turn was compensated with the rights to subdivide neighboring plots for development. A very attractive deal for any developer.

Yes, the dome is indeed in similar with St Peter's Basilica Dome in Vatican City design

The deal was at the time was highly controversial. On 25 January 1877, a case was brought by the Folketing at the Court of Impeachment where the Minister,  Krieger being charged with corruption over this deal. He was, however, eventually acquitted. Tietgen appointed Ferdinand Meldahl to design the church in its final form and financed its construction. Due to financial restrictions, the original plans for the church to be built almost entirely from marble were discarded, and instead Meldahl opted for limestone to minimise the budget. The church was finally opened to the public on 19th August 1894, 145 years from it's inception.

Inscribed in gold lettering on the entablature of the front portico are the Danish words "HERRENS ORD BLIVER EVINDELIG" carries a meaning "the word of the Lord endureth for ever." taken from the Bible, Peter 1:25, KJV.

A series of statues of prominent theologians and ecclesiastical figures, including one of the eminent Danish philosopher Kierkegaard (who, incidentally, had become very critical of the established church by the end of his life), encircles the grounds of the building. For those who has visited Vatican City and paid attention to the dome, may have notice that indeed, the dome in Marble Church is a copy paste of the dome there. You may refer to the said dome photo in my Italy travelogue, the link is here, Italy- Rome 2006.

But of course, St Peter's Basilica is more larger and grandeur in terms of size, pieces of its arts collection, etc being a seat to Roman Catholic house, Christianity founder, whom I said made numerous error in translating the Holy Bible and had misled the original teaching of Jesus, pbuh. 

Copenhagen - Amalienborg Palace & Changing of Royal Guard

Date of visit: 15th October 2015

Witnessing changing of royal guard at Amalienborg Palace was the last itinerary that we had with Jacob. It was nearing 2pm. Jacob was showing us where to watch the short ceremony was taking place and later took us around the palace surrounding and towards the palace garden, located next to the harbour. From thereon, we saw how the naval city once developed from what they were before and what they are now. We parted at the garden where everyone came to shake hand with him one by one and parted while wishing each other the best in life.

Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen is a winter home of the Danish royal family. It consists of four identical classical palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard. In the centre of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg's founder, King Frederick V. Amalienborg was originally built for four noble families, before the royal family who bought the palaces moved in shortly after the Christiansborg Palace was burned on 26 February 1794. Over the years various kings and their families have resided in that four different palaces.

The palace is located in Frederiksstaden district. The first palace was called Sophie Amalienborg, built by Queen Sophie Amalie, consort to Frederick III on part of the land which King Christian IV had acquired. Other parts of the land were used for Rosenborg Castle, Nyboder, and the new Eastern fortified wall around the old city. It has included a garden, as a replacement for an earlier garden which had been destroyed under siege from Sweden in 1659, namely “the Queen’s Garden”, which was located beyond the city's western Gate Vesterport, an area today known as Vesterbro. The royal family had a hall on an upper floor of the palace to dine while watching the gardens and the harbour.

Amalienborg Queen's Garden & the Harbour

Art piece at the Amalie Garden

Amalienborg is the centrepiece of Frederiksstaden, a district that was built by King Frederick V to commemorate in 1748 the tercentenary of the Oldenburg family's ascent to the throne of Denmark, and in 1749 the tercentenary of the coronation of Christian I of Denmark. When the Royal Family found itself homeless after the Christiansborg Palace fire of 1794, the palaces were empty for long periods throughout the year, with the exception of the Brockdorff Palace, which housed the Naval Academy. The noblemen who owned them were willing to part with their mansions for promotion and money, and the Moltke and Schack Palaces were acquired in the course of a few days. Since that date successive royal family members have lived at Amalienborg as a royal residence and kings have lent their names to the four palaces; Christian VII's Palace, Christian VIII's Palace, Frederick VIII's Palace and Christian IX's Palace.

Amalienborg is guarded day and night by Royal Life Guards. Their full dress uniform is fairly similar to that of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army; a scarlet tunic, blue trousers, and a navy bearskin cap. The guard march from Rosenborg Castle at 11.30 am daily through the streets of Copenhagen and execute the changing of the guard in front of Amalienborg at noon. In addition, post replacement is conducted every two hours.

When the monarch is in residence, the King's Guard also march alongside the changing of the guard at noon, accompanied by a band that plays traditional military marches. The Guard Lieutenant is always alerted when Prince Henrik or another member of the royal family are reigning in absence of the Queen. There are three types of watches; King's Watch, Lieutenant Watch and Palace Watch. A King's Watch is when Her Majesty the Queen takes up residence in Christian IX's Palace. A Lieutenant Watch is when Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Joachim, or Princess Benedikte, takes the place as regent, when the monarch is unable to. A Palace Watch is when no member of the royal family is in the palace, and it is the smallest one.

The Equestrian statue of Frederick V

The equestrian statue of Frederick V was a meticulous work of sculptor Jacques François Joseph Saly. It is located at the centre of the Amalienborg Palace Square. The equestrian statue of King Frederik V was commissioned by Moltke, as Director for the Danish Asiatic Company, and it was made by French sculptor Jacques-Francois-Joseph Saly. Work began in 1753, and the foundation stone was laid in place in 1760 at the 100 year celebration of political absolutism in Denmark. The statue was finally unveiled in 1771, five years after King Frederik V's death in 1766.

Source of info: Wikipedia