Copenhagen has fewer statues of women than ‘mythical animals’ – but Denmark seeks change

Miranda Bryant

Stockholm: Denmark has pledged to put up more statues of women, with the country’s culture minister saying the capital has “more statues of mythical beasts and horses”.

According to the Danish government, only 31 of 321 statues and busts in Danish cities are of women.

Of the 101 named statues in Copenhagen, only five are of women, while there are 26 dedicated to animals and 70 to men.

The culture minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, has pledged to spend up to 50m Danish kroner (£5.7m) on correcting the imbalance and will set up a committee to propose women to be commemorated with new statues.

Announcing the plan, he said: “The numbers almost speak for themselves: just 31 out of 321 statues and busts in cities are of women, and in Copenhagen there are more statues of mythical animals than women. It’s totally crazy.

Helen Russell smiling and hugging her daughter, standing next to a yellow beach hut, which her two boys are looking into. The sea is in the background.

“Is this really the mirror image that the next generation will grow up in? Especially when you consider how many crucial achievements in society are due to women. We all need role models that we can look up to and that give us an understanding of our shared past.”

He added: “As a minister, I would like to use my voice to pay tribute and recognise the many women in Danish history. That’s why I want to set up a committee to map out which women we should pay tribute to with statues.”

The committee will be formed of experts, the culture department said, and will recognise key women from Danish history who have been overlooked and suggest suitable locations.

It will also be required to act as “an inspiration for future projects” to take action against historical inequalities in urban spaces to ensure that statues are created and distributed “on a scientific basis”.

Engel-Schmidt, who has a three-month-old daughter, said that before his child’s birth he noticed walking around Copenhagen that most of the sculptures were of men, horses and mythical animals. It made him worry that future generations would think Denmark had been created only by men.

He said: “As minister of culture I noticed we had a problem with representation in Denmark, both in business and arts, and it has been one of my main focuses for the last year.”

Among the women who have recently been commemorated with statues is the actor Betty Nansen, who died in 1943, and the writer Lise Nørgaard, who died last year aged 105. Their statues are in Copenhagen and Roskilde respectively.

Engel-Schmidt, who is calling for ideas from the public, has suggested that the next women to be commemorated could include the pastry chef Karen Volf, Denmark’s first female physician, Nielsine Nielsen, and Bodil Begtrup, the country’s first female ambassador and a member of the committee that negotiated the UN declaration of human rights in 1948.

These, he said, are “three women whose place in history has been overlooked”.

Asked whether the new statues would feature diverse figures, including Greenlandic women, he said he was “open to that”, but that the choices would be made by experts based on academic research.

The initial funding would be put towards a first round of statues, he said, with a view to continuing the scheme with further funding in the future.

Appealing for ideas, he wrote on social media: “Will the next generation really grow up in cities with more statues of mythical beasts and horses than of women. No!

“Therefore, I would like to ask a team of experts to point out exactly which women deserve to be redressed in the landscape. But please help with some input here. Who are we missing and where?”