''Men at Sea'' or ''Man meets the sea'' ( Danish: ''Mennesket ved Havet'') is a 9-metre (30 feet) tall white monument of four seated males, located west of

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

next to

Sædding Sædding is a district of Esbjerg in southwest Jutland, Denmark, some northwest of the centre and southeast of Hjerting. History Once a village, Sædding (originally ''Sæthum'', later also ''Sæddæn'') has now become a district of Esbjerg. In ...

Beach on the southwest coast of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Located opposite the Fisheries and Maritime Museum, it is one of the area's major tourist attractions, and is a landmark of Esbjerg. The sculpture was designed by

Svend Wiig Hansen Svend Wiig Hansen (20 December 1922 – 15 March 1997) was a Danish sculptor and painter. Biography Wiig Hansen was born in Møgeltønder. He was initially undecided about his career, working as a circus clown and a singer until a job requiring h ...

and installed on 28 October 1995. It was funded by the Municipality of Esbjerg,

Statens Kunstfond The Danish Arts Foundation ( Danish: Statens Kunstfond) is the principal Danish government funded arts foundation founded by a special Law on 27 May 1964. Statens Kunstfond alongside the :da:Statens Kunstråd (English sometimes State Arts Council ...

(an art fund), and multiple private sponsors, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the municipality in 1994. The artist's original idea for the location of the sculpture was

Grenen Grenen is a long sandbar spit at Skagen Odde (the headland of Jutland), north of the town of Skagen. Overview ''Grenen'' (The Branch) was named for its shape like a tree-branch, reaching out from the mainland. The beach of Grenen appears in ...

, north of

Skagen Skagen () is the northernmost town in Denmark, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in North Denmark Region, Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalbo ...

. The monument can be seen from ships leaving or entering

Esbjerg harbour The Port of Esbjerg on the southwest coast of Jutland is a competitor to Aarhus and Hamburg for freight. Built by the State in 1868, it was once Denmark's principal fishing harbour but today has become Europe's leading port for shipping offshore ...

References

Buildings and structures in Esbjerg Buildings and structures completed in 1995 Monuments and memorials in Denmark Tourist attractions in Esbjerg Municipality 1995 sculptures Colossal statues Outdoor sculptures in Denmark {{Denmark-struct-stub