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Reflected back at me, I appear to be wearing oversized gilded pantaloons, perceptible just for my eyes. Youngsters relax in a stone basin pretending to be ocean creatures, meanwhile adjacent rests a talking pea in a showcase, next to a imposing mound of mattresses. It represents the universe of the beloved author (1805-1875), a leading 19th century’s highly cherished authors. I'm visiting the city of Odense, situated in Fyn in the southern region of the Danish kingdom, to investigate the author's enduring legacy in his birthplace a century and a half after his death, and to find a handful of fairytales of my own.

The Cultural Center: HC Andersens Hus

Andersen's House is the city’s museum celebrating the storyteller, incorporating his first home. A curator notes that in past designs of the museum there was little focus on his fairytales. His personal history was studied, but Thumbelina were nowhere to be found. For guests who visit the city looking for fairytale wonder, it was not quite enough.

The redevelopment of Odense city centre, rerouting a major road, made it possible to reimagine how the city’s most famous son could be commemorated. A prestigious architectural challenge granted the Japanese company the Kengo Kuma team the contract, with the museum's fresh perspective at the heart of the structure. The unique timber-clad museum with interlinked spiralling spaces launched to great fanfare in 2021. “We’ve tried to build a place where we move beyond simply describing Andersen, but we talk like him: with comedy, sarcasm and outlook,” says the representative. The outdoor spaces take this approach: “This is a landscape for explorers and for colossal creatures, it's planned to make you feel small,” he explains, an objective accomplished by strategic landscaping, playing with verticality, proportion and multiple meandering routes in a unexpectedly limited space.

Andersen's Impact

Andersen wrote two and a half autobiographies and regularly contradicted himself. HC Andersens Hus adopts this philosophy fully; frequently the perspectives of his friends or fragments of letters are presented to politely doubt the his narrative of incidents. “Andersen is the storyteller, but he's untrustworthy,” notes the curator. The effect is a compelling rapid journey of the author's biography and art, thinking patterns and favorite tales. It’s provocative and whimsical, for adults and youngsters, with a bonus lower-level imaginary world, the pretend town, for the smallest guests.

Discovering the City

Returning to the real world, the small city of this Danish city is charming, with stone-paved roads and old wooden houses finished in bright colours. The Andersen legacy is all around: the street signals feature the author with his distinctive formal headwear, brass footprints give a no-cost pedestrian route, and there’s a art walk too. Annually in August this dedication reaches its height with the annual storytelling event, which honors the his influence through creativity, movement, theatre and musical performances.

During my visit, the week-long event had 500 shows, most of which were free. As I explore this place, I encounter painted stilt-walkers, spooky creatures and an Andersen lookalike narrating adventures. I listen to contemporary performances and observe an incredible evening show featuring athletic artists descending from the city building and dangling from a mechanical arm. Still to come in the coming months are lectures, hands-on activities and, expanding the oral history beyond Andersen, the city’s yearly Magic Days festival.

All good fairytale destinations require a palace, and the island contains 123 castles and manor houses throughout the region

Pedaling Through History

Like other Danish regions, bicycles are the best way to travel around in the city and a “cycling highway” meanders through the city centre. From the local hotel, I pedal to the public port-side aquatic facility, then out of town for a route around the nearby islet, a compact territory linked by a road to the larger island. Local inhabitants relax with food here following their day, or take pleasure in a peaceful time fishing, paddleboarding or bathing.

Back in the city, I dine at the themed restaurant, where the food selection is inspired by the writer's motifs and tales. The literary work Denmark, My Native Land appears when I visit, and manager the restaurateur reads extracts, translated into English, as he presents each course. Such encounters repeated often in my time in Odense, the fynbo appreciate narratives and it appears narrating is continuously offered here.

Castle Explorations

Every excellent magical places need a fortress, and Fyn contains numerous historic homes and manor houses around the area. Taking day trips from the city, I explore Egeskov Castle, the continent's finely maintained moated palace. Despite parts are accessible to the public, this historic site is also the personal dwelling of the noble family and his wife, Princess Alexandra zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. I ponder if she might sense a small legume through a pile of {mattresses