Den Flyvende Kuffert Eventyrskulptur

A fairytale suitcase in the heart of Odense

Den Flyvende Kuffert Eventyrskulptur sits in the very center of Odense, a compact fountain plaza framed by façades, shopfronts and café terraces. At first glance you notice the suitcase itself, cast in bronze and tilted upward as if caught mid-flight, as though it has just launched from the paving stones and is making a slow escape into the sky. Water ripples gently around the base, softening the edges of the stone and metal and adding a quiet soundtrack to the urban bustle. This is one of the city’s series of H.C. Andersen fairytale sculptures, each drawn from a different story. Here the inspiration is The Flying Trunk, where a young man escapes on a magic suitcase to a distant land. The sculpture captures that moment of departure, turning a small city square into a stage for Andersen’s imagination.

Symbolism in stone, bronze and water

Look beneath the suitcase and you will see three pyramidal towers, also in bronze, holding it aloft. Their pointed tops suggest the silhouettes of mosques in the “Turkish land” described in Andersen’s tale, a stylised reference rather than a literal skyline. The geometry is deliberate: strong triangular forms grounding an object that is trying to leave the earth behind. The entire composition rests on a granite plinth that itself appears to float. It is mounted so that the block hovers a little above the surface of the fountain basin, creating a subtle illusion of weightlessness. The contrast between dark bronze, pale granite and the reflective water makes the sculpture particularly striking in low, slanting light, when shadows stretch across the square.

The hand of Jens Flemming Sørensen

Den Flyvende Kuffert was unveiled in 1991 and is the fourth in a planned series of eight Andersen sculptures. The work is by Jens Flemming Sørensen, a largely self-taught Danish sculptor who originally trained as a tailor before turning fully to art. His practice often combines geometric shapes and organic curves, favouring durable materials such as bronze, granite and marble. Sørensen spent much of his later life in Italy, close to the marble quarries of Pietrasanta, and that sculptural sensibility carries through to this work in Odense. The clean lines of the pyramids, the carefully judged tilt of the suitcase and the balanced proportions are typical of his style, which seeks a dialogue between heavy materials and a sense of movement.

A small urban oasis on Ove Sprogøes Plads

The sculpture stands on Ove Sprogøes Plads, a pocket-sized square just off Jernbanegade. Despite its modest scale, the fountain creates a focal point: in warmer months you may hear the quiet splash of water and the murmur of conversation from the café just in front. People pass through on their way across Odense C, pausing briefly to photograph the fountain or to sit nearby. Because the basin is low and open, you can walk right up to the edge and study the suitcase and towers at close range. The surrounding paving keeps the area level and easy to navigate, and the constant movement of the city around you makes the scene feel almost theatrical, as if the suitcase might lift a little higher at any moment.

Connecting the dots of Andersen’s Odense

Den Flyvende Kuffert is part of a wider narrative that runs through Odense, where sculptures, museums and plaques all refer back to H.C. Andersen’s life and stories. Visitors often treat the fountain as a waypoint on a self-made trail, combining it with nearby Andersen-related sites and other artworks scattered through the center. Even if you do not know the original tale, standing by the fountain invites you to imagine your own version: Where is the suitcase heading, and what was left behind? In a few square meters of bronze, granite and water, the sculpture manages to capture a sense of departure, curiosity and the pull of far-away places—fitting themes in a city so closely associated with Denmark’s most famous storyteller.