Andersen's Copenhagen

Hans Christian Andersen was adventurous from a young age. He was just 14 years old when on 6 September 1819 he arrived in Copenhagen with the post stagecoach from his hometown Odense on Funen. There he stood, on the hill of Frederiksberg Bakke, with no more than 10 rix-dollars in his pocket, all alone.

In 1819, Frederiksberg was far from the city. The area in front of Frederiksberg Palace was a popular place for excursions, offering the spectacle of regimental band music and watching the Royal Family boat in the canals of the public palace park, Frederiksberg Have.

Frederiksberg was also home to Bakkehuset, which is now a museum of literature. This was the home of Knud Lyne Rahbek and his wife Kamma Rahbek who entertained a large circle of friends, which included most of the prominent poets of the time. Hans Christian Andersen also frequented the home, and Kamma Rahbek was the first to call him a poet – something he never forgot.

Copenhagen at the time was fortified by ramparts, which were decommissioned and demolished as late as 1857. The city was crowded and noisy. It was full of carts and carriages, cows, pigs and chickens. Throughout Hans Christian Andersen’s life, the city was an inspiration for him, and everything he experienced would feed his imagination.

The famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen was one of Hans Christian Andersen’s closest friends. Andersen greatly admired Thorvaldsen and mentioned him several times in his fairytales. Their friendship was kindled when Hans Christian Andersen as a member of the welcoming committee greeted Thorvaldsen on his return from 40 years in Rome. Hans Christian Andersen was also a private guest at the home of the Royal Theatre ballet master August Bournonville, and this is where in 1843 he met – and fell in love with – the Swedish singer Jenny Lind.

Since Copenhagen was such a small town, it was only natural that its prominent notorieties would befriend each other. Among Hans Christian Andersen’s friends was the physicist Hans Christian Ørsted, who was the first to recognise Andersen’s genius. They were close friends throughout life.

Hans Christian Andersen had a lifelong passion for theatre, and even attempted a theatrical career himself, yet unsuccessfully. He wrote 28 plays for the Royal Theatre, but it was the far more popular Casino in Amaliegade that staged most of his fairytale comedies. In 1838, Andersen moved to Hotel du Nord, the later Magasin du Nord department store just across from the Royal Theatre. It suited him well to live so close to the theatre, and stayed there until 1847. Later in life, he spent three years above the Café à Porta by Kongens Nytorv – a stone’s throw from the Royal Theatre. Hotel D’Angleterre was also one of his preferred places. He often dined and stayed here.

He published his first fairytale collection in 1835 while living in No. 20 Nyhavn. He loved Nyhavn and lived there for several periods. Between 1848 and 1864, Andersen lived in No. 67, which thus became the home he lived in the longest. Until shortly before his death, Andersen lived in No.18 Nyhavn. His health steadily decreased, so his good friends the Melchior family brought him home to their summer residence Roligheden (Tranquillity) by Svanemøllen. Here they nursed him until his death on 4 August 1875.

Hans Christian Andersen was buried from the Copenhagen Cathedral, Our Lady’s Church, on 11 August 1875. Every stall in the cathedral was packed, and King Christian IX and the rest of the Royal Family attended the funeral. He was so loved, that tens of thousands of Copenhageners followed him to his final resting place at the Assistens Kirkegård cemetery in the neighbourhood of Nørrebro.