The Little Mermaid of Copenhagen celebrates its 100th birthday, in the middle of a gay pride

Aug. 21 2013

by misterb&b

While the celebrations of the gay pride of Copenhagen started this Wednesday, August 21, before the big parade on Saturday, the little mermaid, the most emblematic monument of the Danish capital, is getting ready to celebrate its hundredth birthday this Friday, August 23.

Forged by the sculptor Edvard Eriksen, inspired by the fairy tale of H.C. Andersen, the statue has been crowned on a rock in Copenhagen harbor since August 23, 1913, easily visible on the Langelinie quay, a few steps from the city center.

To celebrate this centenary, 15 little mermaids in flesh and blood will travel the world this Friday: in Sydney, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Delhi, New York, Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Stockholm or Oslo, young women painted in bronze, dressed in a mermaid's tail, will offer themselves to spectators.

In Paris, for example, the Little Mermaid will be on the Champs de Mars and at the Café de Flore between 8:30 and 12:00. From 12:30 pm, she will be at the House of Denmark on the Champs Elysees. In Rome, the little mermaid will ride a Vespa through the Colosseum and the Spanish Steps; in Amsterdam, she will sail on the canals; in London, she will be in front of and on the London Eye, the famous Ferris wheel...

If you meet her, don't hesitate to take a picture of her and share it on Instagram or Twitter (hashtag #littlemermaid100). A contest will reward the best picture with a trip to Denmark!

In Copenhagen itself, concerts and songs will mark the anniversary. And 100 mermaids will dive into the waters of Copenhagen harbor to form the number 100 in honor of the Little Mermaid. Among them, will there be Eric Ducharme, the man who thinks he is a mermaid?