Copenhagen wants to remove its famous mermaid statue. The reason is quite prosaic.

A dispute is brewing in Copenhagen over the "Great Mermaid," a 14-ton granite statue at Dragør Fort. The Danish Agency for Palaces and Cultural Heritage wants the mermaid gone.

At Dragør Fort near Copenhagen , the "Great Mermaid" has set the internet (and beyond) ablaze. The Danish Agency for Palaces and Cultural Heritage has requested the removal of the 14-ton granite statue . Officially, the sculpture is incompatible with the historic fortification. Unofficially, the subject of the dispute is the heroine's breasts.

The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen - a sister monument to the controversial Big Mermaid

The monument, measuring 4 x 6 m, was created in 2006 as a provocative response to tourists' complaints that the famous " Little Mermaid " was... too small.

The monument was first erected at Langelina , but in 2018, following a wave of criticism, it was moved to Dragør Fort. There, however, it once again divided the public.

According to The Guardian, Politiken critic Mathias Kryger called the sculpture " ugly and pornographic ," while columnist and clergyman Sørine Gotfredsen wrote about a " hot male dream " that does not help women accept their own bodies .

On the other hand, the discussion goes beyond the mermaid itself: it borders on a dispute over what kind of female body can "legally" appear in public space. Editor Aminata Corr Thrane points out that stigmatizing the sculpture's breasts borders on body shaming – especially since " The Great Mermaid " is "less naked" than its sister version from Langelinie .

Questions echo in the background: can breast size determine what is included in the canon of heritage?

The author of the sculpture, Peter Bech , consistently defends the proportions of the work and declares that many residents... like the sculpture.