Agnete and the Merman Statue

A submerged legend beneath Højbro Bridge

Agnete and the Merman is not the kind of artwork that shouts for attention. Set on the bed of the Slotsholm Canal beside Højbro Bridge in central Copenhagen, the entire sculpture group sits underwater. From above, you first notice indistinct shapes below the rippling surface; only as your eyes adjust do the figures resolve into a merman surrounded by seven children, all facing upward as if reaching toward you. The location is deliberately understated. With Christiansborg Palace, the old Børsen stock exchange and historic facades rising around you, it is easy to look out over the canal and never realize a complete bronze tableau lies just below. That moment of sudden discovery is part of the work’s impact, turning a busy city view into something intimate and quietly uncanny.

A folk ballad of love, faith and abandonment

The sculpture brings to life an old Danish folk ballad, “Agnete og Havmanden.” In the story, Agnete, a young woman on land, is seduced by a merman and follows him beneath the sea. There they build a family and she bears him seven sons, living for years in the underwater world. One day, the distant sound of church bells from shore pulls at her memories of life above the waves. Agnete persuades her husband to let her visit the church, promising to return. Once back among people and familiar rituals, she chooses to stay on land, leaving husband and children behind in the sea. The bronze figures in the canal embody the aftermath of that decision: the merman with arms outstretched, the children covering their faces or stretching upward, caught between longing and reproach, while Agnete herself is conspicuously absent from the scene.

Suste Bonnen’s underwater bronze composition

Created in 1992 by Danish sculptor, photographer and author Suste Bonnen, the work occupies a bronze platform on the canal floor. The group is almost life-sized, but the water and changing light distort scale and distance, making them feel alternately close and unreachable. Bonnen chose bronze both for its durability in water and for the way its surface patinates, taking on the same greenish tones as the canal. The figures are modeled with expressive gestures rather than fine detail, so that their emotions read clearly even through the shifting reflections above. Some of the children bend inward, shoulders hunched, while others stretch up on tiptoe, hands open toward the surface. The merman anchors the composition, simultaneously protective and pleading, directing the viewer’s gaze toward the missing Agnete who will never appear.

Experiencing the statues from bridge and waterfront

There is no platform at water level; the work is meant to be viewed from above. Most people encounter it by pausing on Højbro Bridge and looking straight down into the canal. On calm days, the water acts like a pane of glass and the family appears sharply, framed by submerged reeds and the stone walls of the canal. When wind or boat traffic churns the surface, the figures become flickering, half-seen silhouettes, amplifying their ghostly character. After dusk, underwater lighting illuminates the group in shifting tones that might range from cool blue-green to warmer hues. In the dark, the surrounding traffic noise drops slightly and the lit figures feel more theatrical, as if caught mid-scene in an invisible play. The contrast with the stately buildings and lively city lights around them offers a different way to experience Copenhagen’s historic center.

Folklore, symbolism and Copenhagen’s mer-heritage

Agnete and the Merman forms part of a broader tradition of merfolk in Danish art and storytelling, which also includes the famous Little Mermaid statue and other, lesser-known mermaid figures around the city. Where those often celebrate longing for another world, this work dwells on consequences: faith, broken promises and the pull between two lives. The physical separation between viewer on land and sculpture under water subtly mirrors the story’s divide between human and sea realms. Standing by the railings, you are surrounded by some of Copenhagen’s most familiar landmarks, yet the statues below introduce a note of quiet unease and reflection. It is public art designed not as a grand monument but as a hidden narrative in the city’s everyday fabric, ready to reward anyone who takes the time to stop, lean over the bridge, and look beneath the surface.