H. C. Andersen

An incredible amount has been written about Mr. Andersen – probably just as much as has been written about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. He is, without a doubt, the most internationally renowned Dane.

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense on April 2nd, 1805. His father, a young shoemaker who introduced little Hans to the “king of comedy” of the time – the plays of Ludvig Holberg – and his mother, a diligent and hard-working woman, shaped his early life. At the age of eleven, little Hans lost his papa.

To make a long story short: In 1819, H.C. Andersen arrived in Copenhagen with 13 rigsdalers in his pocket and ambitions as large as eyes the size of the Round Tower. The young man faced both setbacks and support. Thanks to kind and cultured men and women, he found his true calling.

He became one of the world’s greatest fairy tale authors – especially known for his literary fairy tales – but also as the inventor of the object tale, in which it's not a person or animal, but an object that takes center stage.

Hans Christian travelled widely – not only within our own little duck pond, but again and again across many European countries. He also visited faraway shores like Morocco and Turkey.

"To travel is to live" is perhaps the phrase our great national author is best known for. And Hans Christian knew what he was talking about.

Well, little Hans had by then become big Hans, and every fairy tale must come to an end. On August 4th, 1875, at the age of 70, Hans Christian Andersen laid down his Galoshes of Fortune in Østerbro, Copenhagen.