Category Archives: Pictures

Gefion fountain was donated to Copenhagen by Carlsburg brewery to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 1897. It was completed in 1908, and depicts the mythical story of the Norse goddess Gefjon, who was told that she could keep as much land as she could plow in a day and a night. So naturally she turned her sons to oxen, and…off she went.

The statue is located not far from the Little Mermaid statue, which in turn is not far from “the genetically modified mermaid” — a sort of cubist version, which is shown in the third picture. Here’s a picture of her before she was placed at Longelinie in 2006.

The Little Mermaid statue is one of Copenhagen’s biggest tourist attractions, but I haven’t met any Danes that are proud of it. In fact, judging from its long history of being vandalized, it’s safer to say that the Danes are embarrassed by it. (There are plans to move the statue further out into the water, for her own safety.)

Yesterday I was in the area, and noticed a new mermaid. This one is…bigger, and…considerably prouder. The original one actually looks embarrassed in comparison. Maybe this is a statue that the Danes can be proud of. But on the other hand, it’s supposed to be the “little mermaid”, not the “big, proud, and busty mermaid”. Still, I doubt this one will be decapitated or blasted with dynamite.

After that I took some pictures of the Royal Library, or “Black Diamond” building. It’s in Copenhagen, on the waterfront facing Christianshavn and Islands Brygge.

From the same place, I captured some passing kayakers. The last picture is an example of some of the modern office buildings on Christianshavn.

Restoration is underway on Lisbeth’s building after an arsonist set a fire in the back stairwell earlier this month. Here’s a picture of the fire, the aftermath, and the canopy that’s in place now.

July has seen historic rainfall in Denmark, smashing every record set since records have been kept, so that canopy is really necessary.

I’ve added a “Blue Solstice” page that I rather like.

There was a fire in Lisbeth’s apartment building early this morning. It started the back stairwell on perhaps the 2rd floor, and spread to the roof. (Most apartments in Copenhagen have two stairwells — the back one is a smaller utility stairwell, originally for work crews and such, but mostly used to store mops and to take out the trash.) I just happened that I’d taken a picture of that area of the building a few weeks ago.

I was surprised how much damage it did, and how slowly the fire crews seemed to respond. I noticed the fire early on because I smelled something that vaguely reminded me of fireworks. (I’d been thinking about it being the 4th of July all day, so smoke in the air made me think of fireworks.) We watched it for 20 minutes before I decided it was worth trying to take some pictures.

The crews fought the fire from the street side (and these shots are all of the courtyard side), so the first evidence of their efforts were streams of water shooting over the top of the roof. Eventually we could see firefighters using hoses from tall ladders.

One thing I hadn’t counted on was the noise. The sound of breaking glass was amazing, and every once in a while you’d hear the crunching of, I assume, fixtures and furniture falling, and perhaps even floors collapsing.

Another thing that surprised me is that there was almost no shouting or hysteria. If you’d had your windows closed, you might very well have slept through the whole thing. The sirens may have been loud on the street, but in the courtyard they were quite muted.

This morning’s news says that 15 apartments were burnt out, but that no one was hurt. There’s a short news video here.