Havis Amanda

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60 ° 10 ' 3 " N, 24 ° 57 ' 5" O60.167524.951388888889

Havis Amanda (1905, height including fountain pool 5 meters) is a bronze statue of Ville Vallgren, which is at the center of a fountain at the edge of Kauppatori square in the center of Helsinki.

The bronze statue depicts a mermaid who has decided to leave their home in the sea and walk on land. In Vallgrens imagination Havis Amanda is the embodiment of Helsinki, the daughter of the Baltic Sea. It is thus the soul of the city on the shore. He has depicted the moment when she makes her first steps on land. She throws over her shoulder one last look back at the sea.

The preparation of the statue in 1908 aroused because of the pronounced curves and their nudity quite a stir, it was required to move them to a less prominent place. Doctors found that the anatomy of the figure, so can not vote and placed around them because of their exotic sea lions were also a stumbling block.

Havis Amanda, colloquially called Manta, is the focus of the celebrations to Vappu, the Finnish May Day. It is washed by the students at first and then gets accompanied by the cheers of thousands of spectators, placed a student's cap. It belongs to the student practices Helsinki to kiss Amanda - in spite of the water.