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Odense is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. This is where the famous fairy tale writer was born in 1805, the son of a poor shoe-maker and a washerwoman, and with one foot in the Middle Ages and the other in modernity. Odense was Denmark’s largest provincial city, but at a time when superstition was still an important part of city life and the writer’s childhood. Odense has changed a lot since then, though there are still buildings and places that look like they did in the storyteller’s day. If you follow the footsteps around the city cen-tre, you will easily find the Hans Christian Andersen Museum and Childhood Home. And the footsteps will also take you past another 11 sites of great significance to Hans Christian Andersen’s childhood and his fantastic writings. This guide will provide you with informa-tion about the different sites and their significance to Andersen as well as details on other wonderful experiences. Have fun!

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INFORMATION

Odense Bys MuseerOvergade 48DK-5000 Odense CT. +45 6551 4601museum@odense.dkmuseum.odense.dk

Download app: AndersensOdense.dk

Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale

Hans Christian Andersen – What the whole family said

To live is not enough! One must have sunshine,

freedom and a little flower!Hans Christian Andersen – The Butterfly

At the beginning of the 1800s, the now iconic yellow house on the cor-ner was located in the poorest part of Odense, and the majority of the neigh-bourhood’s inhabitants belonged to the lowest echelons of society – sol-diers, roustabouts, paupers and beg-

gars who scraped a living from doing odd jobs. This is the environment that Hans Christian Andersen was born into. Back then, as many as five fami-lies shared the home of his birth. Since 1908, the house has been part of the Hans Christian Andersen Museum.

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THE BIRTHPLACE

Situated on Sortebrødre Market Square was the only permanent the-atre outside Copenhagen. This the-atrical world of imagination and sto-rytelling enchanted Hans Christian Andersen. As poor as he was, he did not get the chance to see many per-formances, but instead collected the theatre’s posters and programmes,

which he used as a source of inspira-tion at home. He managed to get into the theatre on one occasion – as an ex-tra in a play. His only line fuelled his dream of fame and a life on the stage, and not long after, aged 14, he made his way out into the world in search of adventure and fortune.

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THE MARKET SQUARE

THE WORKHOUSE

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biblical murals that adorned the walls of the school’s reading room. By the cathedral on his way to school, An-dersen passed the grave of his father and not least the Latin School, where he dreamed of becoming a pupil. The future looked bright for the pupils there – they had good textbooks and received excellent tuition.

On the first floor of the workhouse was the Charity School. This was where Hans Christian Andersen re-ceived his irregular and free educa-tion during the last few years that he lived in Odense. The teaching was in-adequate and the textbooks few, and the young Andersen spent most of his time composing new stories from the

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THE WASHING SITE

poor writer was unable to help her, but many years later he restored his mother’s dignity in the fairy tale “She Was Good for Nothing”. Here, he defended her against the condemna-tion of the outside world and painted a sad picture of his mother’s harsh liv-ing conditions and her great love for her child.

Further up the river, at a special wash-ing site like this, Hans Christian An-dersen’s mother worked as a washer-woman. Forced to stand in the cold water for long periods as she toiled, she warmed herself with alcohol. She died in 1833 of her addiction, which had developed into the disease de-lirium tremens. Back then, the still

THE STATUE

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live. When anyone drowned in the river, it was said the Au-mann had taken them as an offering in order to prevent the river from overflowing its banks and causing major damage. This is the place that inspired Hans Chris-tian Andersen to write the fairy tale “The Bell Deep”.

The large bronze statue of Hans Christian Andersen was unveiled in Kongens Have in June 1888. Today, it is located by the river Odense Å, with Hans Christian Andersen look-ing down towards the deepest part of the river where, in his day, the Au-mann, a water spirit, was thought to

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THE PRISON

parents knew the gatekeeper, on spe-cial family occasions, Odense prison provided the setting for their celebra-tions. However, the young Andersen was afraid of the inmates who served at the festivities. In the novel “O.T.”, Hans Christian Andersen describes this cruel institution.

When Hans Christian Andersen’s grandmother married for the first time in 1783, it was to a man who knew the then prison, Odense Tugthus, from the inside. From 1782–1783, he had served a sentence for having shot at a manor house huntsman. Hans Chris-tian Andersen also spent some time inside – but only as a visitor. As his

THE CHILDHOOD HOME

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It was a cramped and impoverished home, and yet Hans Christian An-dersen looks back on this time in his childhood home with nostalgic joy. Because it was also a home filled with love. Entrance fee.

From the age of two until he was 14, Hans Christian Andersen lived in his childhood home on Munkemøll-estræde. Today, his childhood home and the adjoining properties have been converted into a small museum.

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B The exhibition D The kitchen

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THE EXHIBITION

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freethinker. His greatest regret in life was not being able to stay in school, but being forced into an apprentice-ship as a shoemaker. This was not something he wanted for his son – no matter how unreasonable and unreal-istic the boy’s dreams were, he should be allowed to pursue them.

The small exhibition in his child-hood home contains impressions from Hans Christian Andersen’s childhood in Odense. It was a time when medi-eval superstition was still very much alive, and Hans Christian Andersen’s mother inculcated this superstition into the young boy’s mind. His father, on the other hand, professed more to reason. He was, in his own words, a

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THE LIVING ROOM

and the books he read – everything could be used as material for Hans Christian Andersen’s vivid imagina-tion and puppet theatre performances. Many years later, his childhood home would become material and inspira-tion for the fairy tale writer.

It was here, in his childhood home, that Hans Christian Andersen’s im-agination began to flourish. A small puppet theatre was his most treasured possession, and it became the place where his imagination could unfold. Theatre posters, stories he had heard,

THE KITCHEN

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– Andersen even revisits his child-hood home at the beginning of the fairy tale: “From the kitchen, there was a ladder up to the loft, where, in the gutter between our house and the neighbour’s house, there was a box of earth containing chives and pars-ley, my mother’s entire garden; in my fairy tale: The Snow Queen it flour-ishes still”.

In his childhood home, the cricket chirped when Hans Christian An-dersen’s father lay dead in his bed. His mother, who was lying on the floor with Andersen, exclaimed: “He’s dead, you do not have to sing for him, the Ice Maiden has taken him!”. Many years later, it was such childhood ex-periences that inspired him to write his fairy tales. In “The Snow Queen” – a tale about faith and superstition

To be born in a duck’s nest, in a farmyard, is of no

consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan’s egg

Hans Christian Andersen – The Ugly Duckling

Odense Cathedral, St. Canute’s, is the setting of three events in Hans Chris-tian Andersen’s life. It was here that his parents married, just three months before he was born in 1805. The square that surrounds the church today was a cemetery in Andersen’s day, and it was here that his father was buried, aged 33, in 1816. Three years later, it was

also where Andersen was confirmed. For the special occasion, he had been given a pair of leather boots. The joy and pride he felt over the new boots almost overshadowed the solemness of the actual confirmation. In the fairy tale “The Red Shoes”, Hans Christian Andersen refers back to his childhood memory and his own vanity.

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THE CATHEDRAL

In the cellar of the Town Hall, Hans Christian Andersen’s grandmother had existed on bread and water be-cause she had given birth to three chil-dren out of wedlock. But from the first floor window of the Town Hall, Hans Christian Andersen, experienced his happiest moment – despite his terrible toothache: On 6 December 1867, the people of Odense paid homage to him and he became an honorary citizen

of the city. The square in front of the Town Hall was lit by a torchlight pro-cession, and for Hans Christian An-dersen it was also the fulfilment of an old prophecy. Shortly before heading out into the world as a young man in search of fame and fortune, his future was foretold in coffee grounds. “He’ll do better than he deserves – one day the whole of Odense will be lit up in his honour,” was the prediction.

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THE TOWN HALL

In Andersen’s day, Gråbrødre was a whole complex comprising a church, a hospital and an asylum for the insane. This was where his grandfather was admitted as a madman in 1823, and ten years later, his mother died here of delirium tremens. It was also where,

as a child, Hans Christian Andersen had listened to stories told by the el-derly paupers. Both fascinated and frightened by them, he would often lie outside the buildings which housed the “insane”, listening to their songs, cursing and ramblings.

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THE HOSPITAL

Odense was known as “the little Co-penhagen”, when, in 1815, the castle became the residence of the Prince Governor Christian Frederik, lat-er King Christian VIII. Andersen’s mother worked here as a washerwom-an from time to time, and she often took her son with her. In the castle yard, he played with the other servant

children – and also with Prince Frits, later King Frederik VII. Odense only has two honorary citizens. Funni-ly enough, they are the king and the writer, Frederik VII and Hans Chris-tian Andersen – one from the absolute top and one from the absolute bottom of society.

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THE CASTLE

Hans Christian Andersen was pre-sented in the old church on Easter Monday 1805, around ten days af-ter his birth. In the church, the child screamed so loudly that the priest be-came angry, exclaiming: “He cries like a cat!” However, one of his godfathers

comforted his mother by saying that the louder the child screamed, the better a singer he would be when he was older. And how right he was! To this day, Hans Christian Andersen is honoured with a plaque in the church.

THE CHURCH

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The Funen Village – a village from the time of Hans Christian AndersenSejerskovvej 20 • 5260 Odense S • museum.odense.dk

Other fairy tale experiences

The Funen Village is a village from the time of Hans Christian Andersen. Here you can experience how most people on Funen lived 200 years ago in a society full of changes that affected even quite ordinary people. En-joy the beautiful scenery, the blooming gardens, the live stock and village life in the 1800s.

Odense Aafart has been sailing people up and down the Odense River since 1882. In the words of our guests: Coziness, relaxation, summer and sun, happiness and beautiful scenery.

Odense ZOO offers a variety of unique experiences throughout the year. Enjoy the captivating big brown eyes of the giraffe while you stand feeding it face-to-face, watch tigers and lions being trained or see other animals being fed. In the summer, you can also spend the night with your family on the savannah.

Odense Aafart – a fairy tale river cruiseFilosofgangen 28 • 5000 Odense C • odenseaafart.dk

Odense ZOOSdr. Boulevard 306 • 5000 Odense C • odensezoo.dk

Our time is the time of fairy tales

Hans Christian Andersen – The Dryad