Gefion Fountain

The largest fountain in Copenhagen depicts the Norse goddess Gefjon whipping four enormous oxen forward as they drag a plough through the earth — and the mythology behind it is wonderfully dramatic. According to legend, the Swedish King Gylfi promised Gefjon as much land as she could plough in a single day and night. Gefjon, not one to be outmanoeuvred by a mortal king, turned her four sons into oxen and ploughed so furiously that she ripped an entire chunk of Sweden loose and dragged it into the sea. That chunk became Zealand, the island on which Copenhagen sits. The hole left behind filled with water and became Lake Mälaren in Sweden.

The fountain was donated by the Carlsberg Foundation in 1908 to celebrate the brewery's 50th anniversary — because nothing says "cheers to beer" like a massive Art Nouveau sculpture depicting Norse mythology. Danish artist Anders Bundgaard sculpted the naturalistic figures between 1897 and 1899, and the granite basins and decorations were completed in 1908. The fountain was first activated on July 14, 1908, and the sheer scale of the bronze sculpture group — Gefjon straining at the reins, the four massive oxen lunging forward, water cascading around them — is genuinely impressive.

It was originally planned for City Hall Square, but someone sensibly decided that a monumental water feature depicting the mythological theft of Swedish real estate should perhaps face the sea, and it ended up near Kastellet instead. The fountain underwent extensive restoration starting in 1999 and was re-inaugurated in September 2004 after years of being out of commission.

Sitting in Churchillparken between Kastellet and the Little Mermaid, the fountain is often overshadowed by its more famous neighbour. That is a shame, because pound for pound, the Gefion Fountain is the more impressive sculpture — bigger, more dynamic, and backed by a far better story.