| H. C. Andersen
| | H.C. Andersen´s motto was”To travel is to live” and he undertook several journeys in his life. Some of the first went to Northern Zealand and he also crossed the Sound several times. |
Romanticism and Wanderlust
H.C.Andersen were among the first to depict the bliss of Northern Zealand. However he did so reluctantly. He was taking his A-levels under Headmaster Meisling, originally in Slagelse, but when Meisling transferred to Elsinore Andersen went with him and he spent a year from 1826- 27 in the grammar school in Elsinore.
H.C.Andersen had to promise headmaster Meisling as well as his benefactors to stick to his school, but he couldn´t give up writing entirely. He depicted his first encounter with the Sound Duty town of Elsinore, a provincial town with a cosmopolitan air like this:
Helsingeur den 8. Juni 1826.
"Betragtet ude fra Vejen lovede Helsingeur mig ikke meget, men nu jeg er inde i den, synes den mig et lille København, og jeg tror ofte at være der; hvilken Færdsel! hvor livlig på Skibsbroen, her taler nogle tykke Hollændere deres hule Sprog, der hører jeg det harmoniske Italiensk, længere henne læsser de Stenkul af en engelsk Brig, saa jeg tror at lugte London. Sundet er besat med Skibe, der som Strandmåger svæver forbi Kysterne. -I Dag gik der et stort Krigsskib herigennem trukket af et Dampskib, de saluterede, og lystigt drønede det og gav ekko fra Kullen."
View towards Kullen |
Outing at Marienlyst
Shortly after his arrival Andersen had the opportunity to experience the area, when he went on outings with the Meislings. H.C. Andersen was very enthusiastic, but it must be taken into account that it took place in his youth, before he went on his many journeys abroad:
"Igaar var jeg med Meisling i Marienlyst; o, det er noget af det første(ypperste)jeg har set! Hvor Søen og hele Egnen er dejlig, Meisling siger, at hele Kysten her skal have megen Ligning med kysten ved Neapel; hvilke herlige Bakker er der ikke i Haven; alt forekommer mig som Schweiz, og jeg følte mig saa usigelig lykkelig, o man maa blive Digter eller Maler ved at se den dejlige Natur. O, Velgører, Tak! Tak! for hvert lykkeligt Øjeblik! Livet er dog Herligt!!!"
Tidspunktet må være omkring pinse, hvor der var fester ved Hammermøllen i Hellebæk:
"I de første Dage spadserede vi ret, besøgte Marienlyst og Hammermøllen, hvor M. betalte for mig og Børnene, for at vi måtte ride på Træhestene. Jeg har vist taget mig komisk ud...
Headmaster Meisling | 
City Dwellers in the Country | 
View of Elsinore |
Reunion with Elsinore
The stay in Elsinore under headmaster Meisling was a terrible time in Andersen´s life and probably explains his later somewhat ambiguous realionship with the northern coast of Zealand, which he later called “The Fever Coast” and “The Zealandic Greenland”. He shunned the area and claimed that it made him ill to stay here. It is not until 1837 that there are information about his movements on the North Coast between Elsinore and Hellebæk-Ålsgårde. A diary note from June 20-22. testifies to this, but there are no thoughts about his time in the grammar school ten years earlier:
"Kjøbenh.:20 [juni].
Oppe Klokken 4. Deiligt Vejr. Reitzel forærede mig en. Improvisator og et Lommetørklæde over Sverrig. Luftet lidt kjøligt. Klokken. 12 i varmt Solskin i Helsingør. Var med Gad i Kronborg. En vaad, kold Tåge, kom, som Skyer fra Kattegattet. Det øverste af Kronborg skjultes. Hveen et lavt Capri. Udsigt fra Boyes Have. Var hos Olsen (lidt Patient.)"
Kronborg 1825 |
Andersen across the Sound
H.C. Andersen had visited Capri on his Italy trip around1830. His visit to doctor Olsen that day was perhaps caused by excitement for as it appears Andersen crossed the Sound Thursday the 22nd to Helsingborg and Sweden, which he now visited for the first time:
"I Helsingborg Soldaterne, særdeles smukke. Sproget klang som Musik. Den ny Havn. Springvand paa Torvet. Boer i Hotel de Munthe. Var anbefalet Dr Ohlsen, som boede meget elegant, han førte mig op gjennem Haver til Kjærnen, der ligger høit over Byen, ovenpaa var den græsgroet, som en Bakke, man anede ei at det var et Taarn. - Gik med Adolf Rosenkilde siden op til Kjærnen igjen. Sol-Reflexen paa det brede Sund glimrende, Vandet mælkehvidt. Kullen ragede op over Sundet…"
Efter et enkelt døgns ophold I Helsingborg går turen videre op igennem det nordvestlige Skåne og ind i Halland:
"Fredag 23.- Smerter og derfor ilde stemt. Graat Veir. Maleriske Fruentimmer. Birketræer. Kullen. Engelholm, den maleriske Træbro. Spiiste Frokost. Postillonen. Belmanns Vise. (Sjöbeck..) - Ved Laho1m forbi Lave-Elv med Vandfald, rundtom brændte Lyng. Klippenatur. Slette med et Monument for Kong Carl den 11. og en Steen, for Lützau:” stümpat men kämpande faldt her den tappre Lützau i Feldtslaget 17 August 1676.” - Halmstad, Middagsmad, en smuk Bro med støbt Jern. Fæstningsport. Bøgeskoven, den sidste i Sverrig. Falkenberg, det var Midsommers Festen, Pigerne pyndtede Maistangen i morgen Nat skal der være Dans...
…Løverdag den 24. Top Kaisa! siger vor Postillon. (Du min moder säg! Belmannsk Vise). I Varberg opreist en Midsommerstang, spiist godt…"
Perhaps the coachman sang on the way, for Andersen knew Bellman´s songs and he also became acquainted with Swedish midsummer customs. Lützau was a Danish officer, who was killed in the Scanian War and for whom the local population had erected a worthy memorial.
Repeated Travels
In the years 1839 and 1840 Andersen travelled around in Scania and in 1849 he took a longer journey around Sweden, which was depicted in the book ”I Sverrig” from 1851. In 1865 H.C. Andersen travelled to Stockholm and Uppsala, this time with the railway from Malmø to Stockholm. Andersen´s last stay in Sweden had finished in 1864. However he travelled through Sweden in 1871 on his way to Norway.
H.C. Andersen travelling |
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