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The Gefion Fountain (Gefionspringvandet) is the largest monument in
Copenhagen. The fountain is to Copenhagen what
the Fontana di Trevi is to Rome, a wishing-well.
The goddess Gefion is the fountain’s main
figure.
The fountain was donated to the city of Copenhagen by the Carlsberg Foundation on the occasion of the brewery’s 50-year anniversary. The artist, Anders Bundgård, sculpted these huge naturalistic figures in 1897-99, and the fountain was inaugurated in 1908.
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The fountain is situated at the end of Amaliegade, near the Kastellet.
The legend of Gefion
Long before the dawn of our civilizations the
powerful goddess Gefion was given land by the
Swedish king Gylfe. Well, not really given for
nothing but involving hard work. King Gylfe told
Gefion that she could plough up as much land as
she could for one night and one day and it would
all be hers to do with whatever she wanted.
Gefion turned her four sons into
big strong oxen and plough they did! When time expired
she put all the earth into the Øresund and
created Zealand, the very island where Copenhagen
is situated today.
The big hole which Gefion left in the ground,
when her ploughing was done, is now the lake Vänern,
north of Gothenburg, in Sweden. And if you don’t
believe it just look at a map and you’ll
find that Zealand and Vänern are shaped alike. |
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