Mermaids And Monuments
Havfruegrunden (“The Mermaid Islet”), was a small patch of land once located in the passageway between Slotsholmen and Christianshavn. The waters around Havfruegrunden were very shallow – only a few meters deep – so as a warning to passing ships, a towering and impressive monument, “Leda And The Swan”, was raised on it, back in the early 17th century. The bank together with the statue was removed in the late 18th century, to make way for the increasing sea trade activity.
Havfruegrunden originally got its name because mermaids often were seen lying here, basking in the sun. Or was it perhaps just misidentified seals? There are quite a few seal species extant in the seas around Denmark, and from a long distance seals can look rather human-like, especially seal mothers taking care of their pups. Regardless, it was sightings like these that inspired H.C. Andersen, not only to write his famous fairy tale, but also other stories about mermaids.
Today, Anne Marie Carl Nielsen’s mermaid statue from 1921 stands right around where Havfruegrunden was once located (back then the harbor inlet was much wider) as a memory of both the bank of land and the mermaid sightings connected to it. The statue is virtually unknown compared to The Little Mermaid at Langelinie, but it is actually a much more faithful interpretation of how mermaids have been described throughout history. They were not always these beautiful and sanitized creatures that we know from more recent depictions. Even H. C. Andersen’s original fairy tale is more slimy and otherworldly than the Disney adaptation.
Anne Marie Carl Nielsens Havfrue, today standing near the place where havfruegrunden was once located.
There have been no known sightings of mermaids in the area for a very long time. But the legend says that for many years, following the removal of Havfruegrunden, a ghostly mermaid haunted these waters, longing for her lost piece of land.
Select sources
- Knud Bokkenheuser – Spøgelser i København (Verden & Vi, vol. 2, 1920)
- https://dkwiki.dk/OrdBog/Leda_og_Svanen
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