This bust was unveiled on the 7th of March 2005 by HRH Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark and HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark in the presence of The Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore MP to celebrate the bicentenary of Han Christian Andersen's birth.
Once upon a time...
In 1955, the Danish community of New South Wales donated a bust of Hans Christian Andersen by Australian sculptor Wendy Solling to the City of Sydney to commemorate the sesquicentenary of the author's birth. The bust was located in Phillip Park.
In 1984 plans were made to relocate the bust to Wynyard Park but to everyone's surprise, it was no longer there! A world-wide search was held, and reports located it in far-fetched places, but unfortunately none of them were true and the location remains a mystery to this day.
This plinth, and the plaque containing the quote by Dame Mary Gilmore are all that remain of the original monument.
In 2004, the Danish community in Australia commissioned this bust, to be presented for the 2005 bicentennial celebrations. It is a replica of the famous sculpture created by the Danish sculptor H.W. Bissen in 1865.
Hans Christian Andersen was a storyteller for children of all ages, as well as a journalist, thinker, novelist, and artist. He is best known for his beautiful tales, and his identification with teh unfortuante and out cast made him the father of the modern fairytale.