The Little Mermaid statue rests on a rock in the harbor of Copenhagen. Based on the fairytale by acclaimed Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the modest but beautiful statue is a Copenhagen icon and a major tourist attraction.
Carl Jacobsen, heir to the Carlsberg beer fortune, commissioned the statue in the early 20th century after watching the ballet about the fairytale in Copenhagen's Royal Theatre. Jacobsen asked sculptor Edvard Eriksen to create the statue, which was unveiled in August of 1913. The statue's head was modeled after the ballet's prima ballerina but the body was modeled after Eriksen's wife.
