Overview

• The Danish Agency for Palaces and Culture issued a removal order for the 14-tonne mermaid sculpture on grounds that it fails to align with the historic site’s aesthetic criteria.
• Dragør Municipality rejected sculptor Peter Bech’s offer to cede the work free of charge, with officials citing its size and integration challenges.
• Originally created in 2006 as a larger counterpart to Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid, the bronze figure was relocated to Fort de Dragør in 2018 following local protests branding it vulgar.
• Critics including Politiken art critic Mathias Kryger and priest-journalist Sørine Gotfredsen have labeled the statue pornographic and said it promotes an unrealistic male fantasy of the female body.
• Supporters such as Aminata Corr Thrane argue that the statue’s proportions are artistically justified and warn that its removal represents unwarranted censorship of public art.