| Østerbro (Copenhagen) | |
 | |
Location  | |
| State | Denmark |
|---|---|
| Region | Zealand |
Østerbro is a neighborhood of Copenhagen.
To know
Together with the neighboring Frederiksberg district to the west, Østerbro has been considered the upscale-bourgeois district of Copenhagen since 1850, when the expansion of the city made it necessary to demolish the ancient walls. Today a good percentage of Østerbro residents are young graduates who have had no difficulty in finding well-paid jobs.
Østerbro roughly means "eastern quarter". It owes its name to the door that opened on the eastern side of the walls. It was an area of meadows and pastures of which traces remain in the vast park called Fælledparken. Around the middle of the nineteenth century it broke out in Copenhagen an epidemic of cholera and this was the reason that prompted wealthy families to build villas in the area, moving from the center deemed unhealthy. Many of these nineteenth-century residences are today headquarters of diplomatic representations.
At the beginning of the 20th century, large buildings were built with apartments always intended for the bourgeoisie. Nordhavn, Copenhagen's main merchant port, was opened around the same time but this did not take away from Østerbro its distinctive upper-middle-class neighborhood. Today Østerbro is best known for hosting the Little Mermaid statue, the symbol of Copenhagen, within its limits. It is a trendy neighborhood but certainly less interesting than the center properly said.
How to orient yourself
Østerbro: full screen map.How to get
How to get around
What see
- 1 Kastellet. Kastellet is a well preserved pentagonal fortification. It is located in a protected park where families go on sunny days. It dates back to the early 17th century but was restored and enlarged after being almost destroyed during the siege of the city by the Swedish army (1658 - 1660). It suffered further damage in 1807 when the British fleet bombed Copenhagen. The fortress was the subject of a careful restoration on the occasion of its jubilee in 2004. Inside the park there are the statue of the little mermaid and the Fountain of Gefio.
- 2 Little Mermaid statue (Den lille Havfrue). The statue of the Little Mermaid, the symbol of Copenhagen, is located on a rock in Churchill Park, at the entrance to the harbor. It is the work of sculptor Edward Eriksen who was commissioned by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of the famous "Carlsberg" brewery. Elen, wife of the sculptor, served as a model. Carl Jacobsen commissioned the statue in 1909 after being fascinated by a theatrical performance of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the same name. The statue has extremely small dimensions, being just one meter and 25 cm high. In 2007, the Danish authorities announced the possibility of relocating the little mermaid from its current location to prevent vandal attacks. On 11 September 2003 it was in fact the subject of a bomb attack. Numerous attempts to detach the pieces, fortunately all failed. On May 20, 2007, she was found covered in a burka.
