Hans Christian Andersen Museum
The Hans Christian Andersen's House Museum or H.C. Andersen's Odense, is a set of museums/buildings dedicated to the famous author Hans Christian Andersen in Odense, Denmark, some of which, at various times in history, have functioned as the main Odense-based museum on the author.
![]() H.C. Andersens, Odense | |
Location | |
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Coordinates | 55.39955352°N 10.39189909°E |
Type | History and life of Hans Christian Andersen |
Owner | Museum Odense |
Website | H. C. Andersen's House Museum |
They variously comprise: the new H.C. Andersen Museum (opened 2021) including the H.C. Andersen Birthplace, the H.C. Andersen Childhood Home H.C. Andersen's Childhood Home and even Møntergården (city museum).
They are administered and managed by Museum Odense, a self-governing museum institution in Odense, Denmark.
H.C. Andersen's House Museum
The new museum is located at H.C. Andersen Haven 1, and comprises exhibits and collections from Andersen's works and life. A visit to Hans Christian Andersen’s House is a surprising and fascinating journey into the author’s creative universe – and his world-famous fairy tales. Beauty merges with imagination at the museum, where world-class architecture and spaces bring nature indoors, and provoke us to turn things on their head and speculate about today and tomorrow.
Via sound, light, space and scenery designed in collaboration with 12 international artists, in this innovative exhibition, we experience Andersen and his works speak to us. Our imagination is our only compass. We each create our own adventure!
H.C. Andersen's Birthplace
The birthplace (Danish: H.C. Andersen's Hus) is located in the building which is thought his birthplace (not conclusively confirmed), a small yellow house on the corner of 45 Hans Jensens Stræde and Bangs Boder street in the old town.[1] In 1908, the house was reopened as the H.C. Andersen Museum. It documents his life from his childhood years as the son of a shoemaker to his schooling, career as an author, and later life, with artifacts providing an insight into his acquaintances and adventures.[1]
In 2021 a new museum was opened incorporating the birthplace into it.
The birthplace is also known as H.C. Andersen's House, after the plaque at the front door Danish: H.C. Andersen's Hus.
H.C. Andersen's Childhood Home
Andersen's childhood home (Danish: H.C. Andersens Barndomshjem) is at 3-5 Munkemøllestræde, not far from the cathedral. He lived in the little half-timbered house from the age of two until he was 14. Opened as a museum in 1930, the house contains an exhibition of the cobbling tools used by his father and other items based on Andersen's own descriptions.[2]
Planned House of Fairytales (opened 2021)
In 2016, it was announced that Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma, and museum design consultancy, Event Communications, had won an international competition to design a new House of Fairytales concept for the Hans Christian Andersen Museum (also called the New Hans Christian Andersen Museum).[3][4] Kuma's designs revolve around "a series of cylindrical volumes with glass and latticed timber facades, and scooped green roofs".[5] Event Communications said that the museum would follow an "immersive theatre" that "taps into a fundamental aspect of fairytales – they are journeys where the line between the everyday and the transformative is blurred".[6] The project is being managed by Museum Odense and opened in the summer of 2021.
Gallery
- Birthplace and current museum (as of 2021)
(45 Hans Jensens Stræde) - Childhood Home
(3-5 Munkemøllestræde) - Old museum (before 2019), rear view
(11 Claus Bergs Gade)
References
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- "Hans Christian Andersen's Birthplace". Visit Odense. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- "H.C. Andersen's Childhood Home". Visit Odense. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
The little house where H.C. Andersen lived with his parents from the age of 2 to 14, was opened as a museum in 1930.
- "Kengo Kuma and Event Communications wins competition to design fairytale-themed Hans Christian Andersen museum expansion". Attractions Management. 26 April 2016.
- Angus Montgomery (9 May 2016). "Event Communications wins Hans Christian Andersen museum competition". Design Week.
- Jessica Maris (22 April 2016). "Kengo Kuma reveals plans for Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense". Dezeen. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- "Stroll Through a Fairytale Forest". Event Communications. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
The existing Hans Christian Andersen Museum opened in 1908 and is located in Hans Christian Andersen's childhood home in Odense. As part of a Denmark-wide initiative to expand the country's cultural tourism offer, the City of Odense has embarked on an ambitious project to transform the museum into a flagship tourist attraction, harnessing the worldwide appeal of Andersen's stories.