HCA NEWS Hans Christian Andersen's Wonderful World

The first Hans Christian Andersen experience museum in Denmark, called Hans Christian Andersen's Wonderful World, opens in the summer of 2004.

By ms - H.C. Andersen 2005 - 25 March 2004

Finally, Denmark will have its first Hans Christian Andersen experience museum when Hans Christian Andersen's Wonderful World opens by the Copenhagen Town Hall Square on 1 June 2004 at 3 pm. Access on the opening day will be free between 4 and 5 pm.

Hans Christian Andersen's Wonderful World at No 57 Rådhuspladsen will feature a joint lobby with the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. This location is convenient for international and local visitors alike looking to experience Hans Christian Andersen's many fairytales and the story of his life.

Hans Christian Andersen's Wonderful World invites the audience into a world of fairytale and stories about Andersen's life. At the entrance, visitors are greeted with an audio backdrop harking back to 19th century Copenhagen and Andersen's hometown Odense.

Many travels
Visitors are taken to Andersen's childhood home and to his study where the poet will convey the story of his life and his many fairytales. Visitors are told of his many travels while the wind howls and the gulls cry. From the story of Andersen's life, visitors will enter his fairytale world where the most popular fairytales will be told. You meet the little Match Girl, who cold and hungry watches while the Christmas tables are set in people's living rooms.

You also see the Emperor dress and the Swineherd, Thumbelina and the Steadfast Tin Soldier and many of Andersen's famous characters while you hear the stories. The Stones of the Wise Man The exhibition also features a large number of original exhibits, among them the original manuscript for Andersen's fairytale 'The Stones of the Wise Man'.

The fairytale was written at the manor farm Basnæs in the autumn of 1858, and the museum has acquired it for an undisclosed price. The owners of the museum - Museumsaktieselskabet af 30. februar, 1999 - have invested DKK 20 million in the Hans Christian Andersen Fairytale House without sponsorship of any kind.

"We have looked forward to presenting the Hans Christian Andersen's Wonderful World and offering foreign and Danish visitors a very special and enchanted experience. Hans Christian Andersen lived most of his life in Copenhagen, and we owe it to him than he should be represent in this way," says Klaus Nordfeld, Chairman of the Board of Museumsaktieselskabet.

The company heads some of the most popular Copenhagen museums:

The Guinness World Records Museum, the Mystic Exploratorie (No. 16 Østergade) and the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum at No. 57 Rådhuspladsen. Preparations for Hans Christian Andersen's Wonderful World have been ongoing for four years.

"It's been an exciting four years where we have delved into Hans Christian Andersen's life, and not least his fairytales. It is with great pleasure we open the doors to the public," says Claus Broge, CEO of Museumsaktieselskabet.
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