The Stork Fountain is located on

Amagertorv Amagertorv () is a public square in the district of Indre By in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Today it forms part of the Strøget pedestrian zone, and is often described as the most central square in Copenhagen. Second only to Gammeltorv, it is ...

in central

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

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 ...

. It was a present to Crown Prince Frederik (later Frederik VIII) and Crown Princess Louise in connection with their silver wedding anniversary in 1894. It depicts three storks about to set off. Since 1950, it has been a tradition that newly graduated

midwives A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their ...

dance around the fountain.

History

In 1888, the Society for the Beautification of Copenhagen announced a competition for a fountain on the prominent square to celebrate the upcoming silver wedding anniversary of Crown Prince Frederik (VIII) and Crown Princess Louise on 28 July 1894. The competition was won by

Edvard Petersen Edvard Petersen (4 February 1841 – 5 December 1911) was a Danish painter. He also designed the Stork Fountain on Amagertorv in Copenhagen. Petersen, Edvard Frederik ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon'' Access date January 1, 2021 Biography From 1 ...

and

Vilhelm Bissen Christian Gottlieb Vilhelm Bissen (5 August 1836 – 20 April 1913) was a Danish sculptor. He was also a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts with great influence on the next generation of Danish sculptors and for a while ser ...

. Another entry in the competition was

Thorvald Bindesbøll Thorvald Bindesbøll (21 July 1846 – 27 August 1908) was a Denmark, Danish National romantic architect, sculptor and ornamental artist. He designed the Dragon Fountain, Copenhagen (''Dragespringvandet'') and is perhaps best known as the cre ...

and

Joakim Skovgaard Joakim Frederik Skovgaard (18 November 1856 – 9 March 1933) was a Danish painter. He is remembered above all for the frescos which decorate Viborg Cathedral. Biography Born in Copenhagen, from an early age he was trained in drawing and paintin ...

's Dragon Fountain, which was later erected in the City Hall Square. Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint proposed a fountain depicting a merry Amager farmer sitting on a cabbagehead. The fountain was inaugurated in 1894.

Design

The fountain consists of a nine-sided basin of stone. It collects water from the bronze bowl at the top and the three small cascades around the edges of the central

pedestal A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

. The pedestal is decorated with reliefs of aquatic plants; in the basin, there are frogs sitting on dock leaves, spewing jets of water. On a shelf on the pedestal stand three storks ready to take flight in each of three different directions. A common urban legend holds that the birds depicted are herons. In 2008, representatives from the

Danish Ornithological Society (DOF), also known as the Danish Ornithological Society or BirdLife Denmark, is a Danish non-governmental non-profit organisation. Founded on 15 October 1906 by Eiler Lehn Schiøler and Hans Christian Cornelius Mortensen, it is the principal bir ...

stated that this is not true and that the birds are indeed storks.

Colding-Jorgensen experiment

In early 2009, as part of a classroom experiment on viral communication,

slacktivism Slacktivism (a blend word, blend of ''slacker'' and ''activism'') is the practice of supporting a political or social cause by means such as social media or Online petition, online petitions, characterized as involving very little effort or comm ...

, and

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, Anders Colding-Jørgensen, a lecturer from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

, created a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

protest group against the demolition of the Stork Fountain. In a week it managed to attract 10,000 supporters and after two weeks it had 27,000 members. However, the cause was purely fictitious; there was no threat of demolition and the fountain is in fact a listed monument.

Cultural references

During the late 1960s, the fountain became a popular meetingplace for members of the protest movements. Danish folk singer Cæsar received mainstream popularity with his protest song named Storkespringvandet (Stork Fountain) about police brutality. The song's lyrics, written by Thøger Olesen, were set to the popular Scottish nursery rhyme Ally Bally Bee (Coulter's Candy).

References

{{coord, 55.6788, N, 12.5796, E, source:kolossus-dawiki, display=title 1894 sculptures Animal sculptures in Copenhagen Buildings and structures completed in 1894 Fountains in Copenhagen Monuments and memorials in Copenhagen Sculptures by Vilhelm Bissen Sculptures of birds Sculptures of frogs Frederick VIII of Denmark