150 YEAR CELEBRATION HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
ODENSE
DENMARK
AUGUST 30 2025
LENGTH: 04:21
SOURCE. XINHUA
STORY
Hans Christian Andersen, the famous fairytale writer who created The Little Mermaid and much more, is being celebrated all year to mark the 150th anniversary of his death in 1875.
City Director of Odense Municipality – Chairperson of the H.C. Andersen Foundation, Eik Møller, feels that the many Chinese tourists visiting Hans Christian Andersen’s hometown of Odense are teaching the local people the importance of Andersen’s legacy.
The newly opened Hans Christian Andersen House (Museum) in Odense – sometimes called the House of Fairytales – was designed by the Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma & Associates.
The museum is now visited by more than 200,000 people a year, the highest number ever, with Chinese guests among the largest groups from abroad.
Special tours are offered in Chinese, and it takes around two hours to experience it all.
We asked Tien Mei Hu, visitor and professor, about her favorite Hans Christian Andersen story. She chose one of his first stories from 1837, The Emperor’s New Clothes, where two swindlers convince an emperor that they can weave him clothes invisible to the unworthy.
Tien Mei Hu, visitor and professor explains:
The museum highlights and explain more about the stories he created, including The Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Match Girl, and The Emperor’s New Clothes. It also displays first editions of the 156 fairy tales and stories Andersen published over a 40-year period between 1835 and his death in 1875.
His tales have been translated into more than 125 languages, making Andersen one of the most translated authors in the world.
In 1843 Andersen wrote The Nightingale, which is the favorite of another Chinese visitor, Tsung Teng Wang. The story tells of a beautiful mechanical bird, but shows that only the real nightingale’s song has the power to touch the heart and even conquer death of the emperior.
It is often read as a parable about the healing force of nature.
Visitor Tsung Teng Wang explains why it is his favorite…
Eik Møller, City Director of Odense Municipality – Chairperson of the H.C. Andersen Foundation, believes Hans Christian Andersen remains deeply relevant, and he feels responsible for ensuring that his stories continue to be told in Andersen’s hometown.
Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805, in the poorest quarter of town. His father, Hans Andersen, was a shoemaker, and his mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter, was a washerwoman.
As a child he wandered the streets and fields of Odense, inventing puppet plays, singing, and reciting. At age 14, in 1819, Andersen left Odense for Copenhagen.
Though he never lived permanently in Odense again, the city remained central to his identity.
Visitor Tsung Teng Wang says…
Every year from August to October, a festival is held in Odense in the spirit of Hans Christian Andersen, with street performances and much more.
END
SHOT
- STATUE OF H.C ANDERSEN
- MOVING ILLUSTRATION OF H.C ANDERSEN
- THE LITTLE MERMAID IN COPENHAGEN
- WOMAN DRESSED AS THE LITTLE MERMAID IN ODENSE, SINGING OPERA
- CLIP FROM CELEBRATIONS SHOW
- H.C ANDERSENS TOMBSTONE INSIDE THE MUSEUM
- SOUNDBITE Eik Møller City Director Of Odense Municipality – Chairperson Of The H.C. Andersen Foundation:
“I think the big international interests might be the way to more Danes acknowledging the heritage, actually. So a lot of Americans and Chinese and other people come here to show him respect and curiosity that help us understand ourselves and our relation to Hans Christian Andersen. So keep coming.” - DRONE OF H.C ANDERSENS MUSEUM
- CHINESE TOURISTS TAKING PICTURES OF H.C ANDERSEN STATUE
- GUESTS USING SOUND DEVICE INSIDE THE MUSEUM
- CHINESE GUEST USING AN INTERACTIVE MIRROR
- VOX-POP Tien Mei Hu, Visitor. China:
(Original Chinese):
“///” - CHINESE GUEST SMILING AFTER USING THE INTERACTIVE MIRROR
- HUGE STACK OF MATTRESES
- SINGLE GOLDEN PEA
- A COLLECTION OF FIRST EDITION BOOKS
- CLOSE UP OF SIGN OF THE FIRST EDITION BOOKS, ALSO IN CHINESE
- ORIGINAL BOOK OWNED BY H.C ANDERSEN ON DISPLAY
- CLIP FROM CELEBRATIONS SHOW
- STATUE OF H.C ANDERSEN OUTSIDE COMWELL HOTEL
- CLOSEUP OF STATUE
- STORY TELLER IN THE STREETS OF ODENSE
- FOOTSTEPS ON GROUND
- STATUE OF GOLDEN NIGHTINGALE
- VOX-POP Tsung Teng Wang, Visitor. China:
(Original Chinese):
“////” - SOUNDBITE Eik Møller City Director Of Odense Municipality – Chairperson Of The H.C. Andersen Foundation:
“In Odense we have an obligation to uphold his heritage and tell why this is so important, both in Denmark and all over the world. So it’s a little ambiguous, but we are proud of him. But we maybe sometimes think, why is everybody so, so interested in him? He was just a writer. So we have to continue to tell the story about how to perceive him in modern day times.” - FAMILY LOOKING BOOK ABOUT THE UGLY DUCKLING
- FAMILY LOOKING AT ART ON WALL
- FAMILY SITTING ON DOG WITH LARGE EYES
- VOX-POP Tsung Teng Wang, Visitor. China:
(Original Chinese):
“///” - WALL WITH QUOTE BY H.C ANDERSEN
- MAN DRESSED AS WHITE TROLL DANCES BESIDE STREET MUSICIAN
- MAN AND WOMAN PERFORMING ACROBATICS
- CLIPS FROM CELEBRATIONS SHOW
- DRONE OF H.C ANDERSENS MUSEUM
END
Links:
WiKi / eng:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen
Footsteps Hans Christian Andersen:
https://www.visitodense.com/tourist/what-do/footsteps-hans-christian-andersen
Hans Christian Anderse House:
https://hcandersenshus.dk/en/experiences/