The “Little
Mermaid” Statue is a popular tourist attraction in Copenhagen
and is considered to be the Country’s national symbol. The
Statue appears on a number of souvenir items sold including t-shirts,
mugs and postcards.
It is situated at the Copenhagen harbor and is a fairly small
statue standing at a height of 1.25 meters on a rock base. The
statue was created by Edvard Eriksen in 1913. Since then it has
been a symbol of identity for the City like the Statue of Liberty
is to New York.
Sadly the “Little Mermaid” has had to endure a number
of vandalism episodes including having its head sawn off in 1998.
The head was returned anonymously to a local Television Station
that had offered a reward.
There have also been incidences of defacing, painting and in
September 2003; the statue was knocked off its resting place
on the boulder. A month later the statue was rehabilitated and
returned to its sight