...Hans Christian Andersen's descriptions of his Childhood Home
In his memoirs, Hans Christian Andersen has written about the years he lived in the childhood home: H.C. Andersens Levnedsbog (written in 1832-33, published posthumously in 1926) and The Fairy Tale of My Life (Mit Livs Eventyr (1855)).
...The Childhood Home is found in the fairy tale ”The Snow Queen”
“From the kitchen you climbed on a ladder up to the loft, and in the gutter between our and the neighbour’s house stood a box with earth containing chive and parsley, my mother’s entire garden. In my fairy tale “The Snow Queen” it is still in bloom”. (The Fairy Tale of My Life).
Hans Christian Andersen's Childhood Home
Hans Christian Andersen's Childhood Home in Munkemøllestræde
Close to St. Knud's Cathedral lies the house where Hans Christian Andersen lived from the age of two until he was fourteen. It was from this humble home that his childhood memories sprang.
The cobbler's small family dwelling is only 18 sq m in size. Today, it houses an exhibition on Hans Christian Andersen's links to his native city of Odense. The exhibition in the Childhood Home conform completely to the description Andersen gave of it in his autobiographies.
A glovemaker's family with many children used to live in the living room next to Andersen's childhood home at that time. In this room you will find a small exhibition of childhood memories, told by Hans Christian Andersen himself.
Shoemaker tools in the reconstruction in Hans Christian Andersen Childhood Home
Bed in the reconstruction in Hans Christian Andersen Childhood Home
Read Senior Curator Ejnar Stig Askgaard's article Hans Christian Andersen's Upbringing in Odense here
Hans Christian Andersen Childhood Home
Munkemøllestræde 3-5
DK-5000 Odense C