Following in
Hans Christian
Andersen’s footsteps
In the Footsteps of H.C. Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen’s home city has changed a great deal
since he was a child. Even so, there still remain buildings and
specific areas in the city, which look exactly as they did when the
poet ran around in his childhood days. Round about the city centre you can find 13 granite squares, set in the pavement, marking
places connected to Hans Christian Andersen. These squares are
decorated with the Hans Christian Andersen paper cutting “The
sun as a face”, which is also depicted on the front page of this
brochure.
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Hans Christian Andersen Museum
In times past the attractive yellow house
on the corner of Hans Jensens Stræde
and Bangs Boder used to be part of the
city’s slum area. The corner house, which
looks so romantic today, comprises actually 3 dwellings, and was home for up to 5
families or about 20 people. Hans Christian Andersen’s grandmother and later his father’s aunt lived in the room – the flat
– furthest down Bangs Boder. It is with all likelihood here that
Hans Christian Andersen was born. Since 1908 the house has
been dedicated to the memory of the poet, in the form of Hans
Christian Andersen’s museum.
Black Friars’ Square (Sortebrødre Torv)
Odense Theatre, the only permanent
theatre outside Copenhagen, used to be
situated here. Hans Christian Andersen
was spellbound by the theatre. The
poverty-stricken boy helped the billsticker with his work and was rewarded with
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theatre bills and programmes, fantasizing about these at home.
Hans Christian Andersen made his début as a walk-on at Odense
Theatre. His interest in the theatre and his dream of appearing
on the stage drove Hans Christian Andersen to Copenhagen in
1819.
The Workhouse
The workhouse was situated on the corner of
Overgade and Påskestræde, and a part of it can
still be seen. Hans Christian Andersen used to go
to school – sporadically and free of charge – on the
first floor when he lived in Odense. On his way to
school Hans Christian Andersen passed his father’s
grave and the grammar school near the cathedral,
where he dreamt of becoming a student. The fact was that the
students’ future was promising there – they had good school
books and got thorough education.
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The Washing Site
In the fairy-tale “She was no good” Hans
Christian Andersen painted a sad picture
of his childhood and his mother, who took
comfort in the schnapps during her hard
and cold work. Andersen’s mother died of
the DT’s in 1833.
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“No, she was good!” said the old servant, looking upward. I’ve
known it for years, and more than ever since last night. I tell you,
she was good – and God in his heaven knows it too, however much
the world may say, ‘She was no good’.”
This is how the poet ends his fairy-tale about the mother. She
worked by the river, not at this washing site, but at one just like it
a bit further up Odense River.
Hans Christian Andersen Statue
A large bronze statue of Hans Christian Andersen
is situated near Odense Cathedral in the Garden,
which is named after the poet. The statue was unveiled in the King’s Garden in 1888. The sculptor behind the statue was Louis Hasselriis (1844-1912).
The first study was modelled in Rome in 1895, but
the famous actress Johanne Luise Heiberg felt that
the back of the statue seemed a little boring. Therefore, Hasselriis draped the poet’s overcoat across one shoulder, so that it
broke the long surface of the back. The poet is commemorated
each year on 2nd April by placing wreathes and by singing at the
foot of the handsome statue.
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Odense Prison
Hans Christian Andersen’s grandmother
was married to a convict from Odense
Prison, and Hans Christian Andersen has
been there too – however as a guest.
His parents knew the warder, so Odense
Prison, also known as “O.T.”, provided the
setting for the celebrations at a family re-union. However, Hans
Christian Andersen was too scared to participate, because he
was frightened of the convicts acting as waiters at the party. In
the novel: “O.T.” Hans Christian Andersen describes this awful
institution.
The Bishop’s Manor
Two days before the cobbler’s son Andersen left Odense in the hope of making a career for himself at the Royal
Theatre in Copenhagen, he paid a visit
to Bishop Plum, who lived at a vicarage
– a little closer to Odense River than
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this. Andersen wanted to perform in order to earn money for
his travels. The bishop’s wife invited the boy to come again that
evening. The chandelier in the living room was lit, and the family
and their guests gathered around Hans Christian Andersen. The
cobbler’s son entertained the guests for two hours with extracts
from comedies and tragedies, with songs and with poetry recitals. One of the bishop’s young guests wrote in his diary: “This
was a very pleasant surprise for me”.
The Childhood Home
Hans Christian Andersen’s memories
stem particularly from the childhood
home at Munkemøllestræde 3, where
he lived from the age of two until he
was fourteen (1807-1819). The fairytale: “The Snow Queen” was inspired
from here. The oldest and first commemorative plaque for Hans Christian Andersen can be seen on
the house façade. It was unveiled on the poet’s 70th birthday in
1875. Today the house accommodates a small exhibition over
Hans Christian Andersen’s childhood.
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Saint Canute’s Church
Odense cathedral, Saint Canute’s Church,
provided the setting for three events in Hans
Christian Andersen’s life. It was here that his
parents got married on 2nd February 1805,
his father was buried at the age of 33 on
30th April 1816, and the cobbler’s son was
confirmed on 18th April 1819. At his confirmation Hans Christian
Andersen wore his father’s old jacket, and a pair of leather boots
had been bought for the occasion. In sheer joy and pride over the
new boots he completely forgot to concentrate on the solemnity
of the ceremony.
Odense Town Hall
The town hall looked rather different in
Hans Christian Andersen’s day – it was
much smaller and more humble. Hans
Christian Andersen’s grandmother had
been on bread and water in the cellar
under the town hall because she had
given birth to three children out of
wedlock. But Hans Christian Andersen experienced the best day
of his life from the window on the town hall’s first floor – on 6th
December 1867 he received the people’s ovation and became an
honorary citizen of Odense. Flakhaven was lit up by the people’s
torchlight procession that day. Odense was illuminated in honour
of the poet – what had been prophesied of him as a child came
true.
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The Franciscan Hospital (Gråbrødre)
In Hans Christian Andersen’s day
Gråbrødre was a whole complex with
church, hospital and madhouse – a
lunatic asylum. The church is now gone,
torn down after Napoleon’s Spanish
auxiliary troops left it in a state of devastation. But some of the old buildings still remain. It was here
that Hans Christian Andersen’s grandmother tended the garden,
here his grandfather was admitted to the hospital in 1823 as
madman, and ten years later Hans Christian Andersen’s mother
died here, deeply alcoholic, on the floor under the roof in the
almshouse, the so-called “Doctors’ Boder”. It was also here that
Hans Christian Andersen heard stories from the old poor people,
and it was here it made him shudder to think of the hospitalized
mentally retarded and insane people.
Odense Castle
Odense became “little Copenhagen”
when the castle became the residence
of Prince Christian Frederik (later King
Christian VIII) in 1815, where he was
appointed Governor of the Funen
Diocese. Hans Christian Andersen’s
mother sometimes worked here as
washerwoman, and in order that Hans Christian shouldn’t be
left at home alone, she often took him with her to work. Thus,
Hans Christian frequently played in the courtyard with the other
servants’ children – and also with Prince Frits (later Frederik
VII). Odense only has two honorary citizens. Funnily enough
these are the King and the poet, Frederik VII and Hans Christian
Andersen – one from upper-class society and the other a more
humble member of the community.
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St Hans Church
Hans Christian Andersen was christened in
the interesting old church on Easter Monday in
1805. This was ten days after his birth; he was
weak when born and was therefore baptized
at home. During the christening ceremony
the priest worked himself up because the
new-born child screamed so much. One of the
godparents comforted the mother by saying that the louder the
child screamed, the better a singer he would become. He was
going to prove more right than he realized.
Two months prior to the christening, the church’s old priest had
died. His widow later became Hans Christian Andersen’s opposite neighbour in Munkemøllestræde. It was at her house that
the cobbler’s son decided to become a poet.
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Odense Bys Museer ©
City Map
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