NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Hans Christian Andersen Statue

Central Park
West side of Conservatory Water
(Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street entrance)
New York, NY  10021
Map

• Monument
• Outdoor Performance Space
• Parks

Unveiled in 1956, the idea for the statue originated with Baroness Alma Dahlerup, then president of the Danish-American Women's Association of New York, who for many years had arranged for Andersen's stories to be told on the radio. Robert Moses, then New York City parks commissioner, selected the site and the city's Department of Parks and Recreation has supported it. Donations by schoolchildren in Denmark and the United States made up a share of the funding for the statue, which was executed by the Danish American sculptor George Lober. Hans Christian Andersen's well-rubbed knees are ample evidence of the fun children continue to have sitting on his lap.

The statue has become a symbol of the good relations between the United States and Denmark and has received visits but Danish royalty. In 1964 the City of Copenhagen contributed the two 19th century street on both sides of the statue. On Saturdays at 11 am from May through September, children (and parents) gather near the statue to hear free storytelling based on Andersen's fairy tales.

• Directions: The statue is on the west side of the Conservatory Water (the small duck and sailboat pond just north of the East 72nd Street entrance). The pond is just at the bottom of the winter sledding hill popularly known as Pilgrim Hill for the statue that stands there.

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