Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen was born in 1805 in the town of Odense on the island of Funen but moved to Copenhagen at a young age in 1819, and virtually all his schooling took place here. He harboured ambitions to become a ballet dancer, a singer and an actor, and already then, Copenhagen was the cultural centre of these activities.

However, his real talent lay in writing poetry, fairy tales, plays and travel books. The irony is, of course, that had he entered one of those professions, he would never have achieved the worldwide reknown his name enjoys today. Posterity would have lost a great writer, and Denmark would have looked even smaller on the world map.

Andersen's travel journals earned him great respect around the world (Charles Dickens was a friend and fan), and he travelled extensively in Europe. However, it was his fairy tales, the first of which was published in 1835, that cemented his reputation. Andersen never married but died a wealthy man at the age of 70 on 4 August 1875.

Copenhagen abounds with places that are connected to the name of Hans Christian Andersen. These include his house in Nyhavn, Tivoli Gardens and the very famous statue of him in front of the City Hall of Copenhagen looking towards Tivoli Gardens.