This statue is not the largest, the oldest, or even the most unique. However, it is incredibly popular. Even those travelers who have never been to Denmark know it.

Today, the creation of the sculptor Edvard Eriksen is considered a symbol of Copenhagen, one of the most visited tourist places in the Danish capital. It all began with a ballet that the son of the founder of the legendary Carlsberg brewing company, Carl Jacobsen, saw on the stage of the Royal Theater.

What do the ballet and the founder of the company have to do with the statue? And why did the talented sculptor choose this heroine created by the great storyteller? No matter how different the events preceding the appearance of the monument may seem, they are all closely related. The ballet staged at the Royal Theater was based on Andersen's fairy tale about the Little Mermaid. It made an incredibly strong impression on one of the spectators, the son of Carl Jacobsen, the founder of Carlsberg. He did not hesitate long to order the Danish sculptor to make a bronze statue of the Little Mermaid. That is how the heroine of the eponymous fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen appeared in the port of Copenhagen in 1913.

The charming statue of the Little Mermaid, 125 centimeters high and weighing 175 kilograms, has won the hearts of people all over the world. Today, copies of the "sea lady" (the original name of the statue in Danish) can be found in such cities as Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, Shenzhen, and Saratov.

The Danish statue of the Little Mermaid was modeled after that one ballerina of the Royal Danish Theater who had the main role in the ballet "The Little Mermaid". However, Ellen Price refused to pose nude, so the master could depict only her face. The model for the statue body was Eriksen's wife, the beautiful Eline. Two lovely ladies became the prototype of the legendary Little Mermaid, without even knowing it, and helped to create the statue which still attracts tourists to Copenhagen.