There's more than just a little mermaid in Copenhagen

The thing that many people think of when they are asked to name something they know about Copenhagen is 'The Little Mermaid', and when they come to visit it is usually high on their list of must sees, which is a source of amusement to many Danes who wonder why it is something that every tourist flocks to see. However along the harbour waterfront and very nearby there are three other mermaids that tourists never visit and even many Danes don't know about.

Den lille havfrue, as she is known in Danish, is the most famous of these mermaids. Carl Jacobsen, the founder of the Carlsberg brewery, was inspired by a ballerina at the Royal Theatre who was dancing in the ballet of The Little Mermaid, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. He requested that Edvard Eriksen, a Danish-Icelandic sculptor, create a statue of a mermaid in her image. The statue recently celebrated her 100 year anniversary in August 2013, and has suffered for her fame through the years as a focal point of political protests. As famous as the Little Mermaid is, her diminutive size is a surprise for many tourists, who expect something more. There are many copies of the Little Mermaid around the world including ones at the Carlsberg brewery and Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.
Location of the Little Mermaid - http://goo.gl/maps/2e47n

Just a stones throw from her more famous sister is the Genetically Modified Little Mermaid, created in 2006 by the artist Bjørn Nørgaard, and funded by  the New Carlsberg Foundation. There are other sculptures along the waterfront in the same theme also worth looking at. I have told many Copenhageners about this mermaid and no one knows about it.
Location of the Genetically Modified Little Mermaid - http://goo.gl/maps/DPRM1

Even closer to the Little Mermaid, is the Big Mermaid or sometimes know as the Centrefold Mermaid. She was commissioned by the restaurateur Peter Bech in 2007. Hewn from granite, she stands at about 8 feet compared to her smaller cousin the little mermaid at less than 4 feet.
Location of the Big Mermaid - http://goo.gl/maps/6NpQz

CC Image: Sigfrid Lundberg

Slightly further away, but still on the waterfront is the fourth mermaid, that few people have seen. Outside the Royal Library building, known as the Black Diamond, is a copy of a mermaid statue built by the sculptor Anna Marie Carl-Nielsen in 1921. This mermaid was installed in 2009 on a piece of land known for centuries as the Mermaid Grounds.
Location of the - http://goo.gl/maps/Gjxum

The World’s Largest Ship comes to Copenhagen

Last week the Majestic Maersk docked in Copenhagen harbour. The first of the new fleet of Triple-E container ships built for Maersk Line. These ships will be the longest ships currently in service in the world. Though there have been longer ships in the past, such as the super tanker Knock Nevis, these are no longer in use.
The ships office website www.worldslargestship.com has lots of information about the statistics of the new ships, and including this time-lapse video showing how it was constructed.

Time-lapse video of the Maersk Triple E

Ems managed to get tickets for us, but she had a business trip at the last minute on the day we were due to visit the ship, so I asked Jens if he would like to come along. When I arrived at the harbour it was a shock to see something that big. In the summer we are used to seeing Baltic cruise ships docked in the harbour, but that was on another scale all together.

Walking around the ship was interesting, but it was hard to grasp the full size of it because we were so close. However the view from the top of the bridge over looking Copenhagen were amazing. After Ems got back from her business trip, we biked out the the furthest point of Christianshavn to get a better look of the ship from a distance.