The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen


	The Classroom and Resources

Julie K. Allen
1302 Van Hise Hall
Tel: 262-8995
Email: jkallen@wisc.edu
Department of Scandinavian Studies

The Ugly Duckling

This is a timeline of events during Andersen's life.

1805 - 1810 - 1815 - 1820 - 1825 - 1830 - 1835 - 1840 - 1845 - 1850 - 1855 - 1860 -1865 - 1870 - 1875

Key:

Hans Christian Andersen's life.	History of politics.	History of Battles.
History of literature.	History of the theater.	History of Music.
History of the visual arts.	History of religion.	History of Science.
History of Industry.	History of daily life.

1805	Hans Christian Andersen is born in Odense. Thomas Jefferson begins his second term as president. Treaty of St. Petersburg allying Britain and Russian against France. Napoleon crowned king of Italy in the Cathedral in Milan. Battle of Austerlitz: Napoleon's victory over the Austro-Russ. Sir Walter Scott writes "The Lay of the Last minstrel." Friedrich Schiller dies. Beethoven composes the opera "Fidelio." Goya Paints portrait of Doña Isabel Cobos de Procal. Mathematician William R. Hamilton, Jr is born. F.W. A. Sartürner isolates morphine.
1806	Official end of the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon decrees the beginning of his "Continental System." Prussia declares war on France. Napoleon enters Berlin. The French army enters Warsaw. Beethoven composes symphony No. 4. Rossini composes his first opera "Demetrio a Polibio." Thorvaldsen sculpts "Hebe." Napoleon establishes a consistorial organization for Jews in France.
1807	Treaty of Tilsit between Napoleon, Alexander I of Russia, and Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia. US passes the Embargo Act against Britain and France. England prohibits slave trade. France invades Portugal. Lord Byron writes "Hours of Idleness." Wordsworth write "Ode on Intimations of Immortality." Hegel writes "Phänomenologie des Geistes," [Phenomenology of the Spirit]. David completes the painting "Coronation of Napoleon." U.S. Evangelical Association, founded by Jacob Albright, holds its first convention Commercial Law Code. Robert Fulton's steamer "Clermont" paddles on the Hudson River.
1808	U.S. prohibits importation of slaves from Africa. French army occupies Rome, invades Spain, and takes Madrid and Barcelona. Goethe writes "Faust," part I. Oehlenschläger writes "Hakon Jarl." Sir Walter Scott writes Marmion, a narrative in verse. Beethoven composes his Symphonies No. 5 and No. 6. Goya paints "Execution of the Citizens of Madrid." Napoleon abolishes the inquisition in Spain and Italy. Source of the Ganges River is discovered. The fashion of pigtails in men's hair disappears. Napoleon meets Goethe.
1809	Austria becomes part of Napoleon's Continental System. Peace treaty at Schönbronn James Madison becomes the fourth president of the U.S. Napoleon annexes Papal States and takes Pope Pius VII prisoner. King Gustavus IV is deposed in Sweden; succeeded by Charles XIII Marshal Jean Bernadotte is elected Crown Prince of Sweden. French army takes Vienna. Goethe writes Die Wahlverwandtschaften [The Elective Affinities]. Washington Irving writes Rip van Winkle. Schlegel writes Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. Edgar Allen Poe is born. Lord Alfred Tennyson is born. Thomas Paine dies. Charles Darwin is born.
1810	Napoleon hits his zenith with the annexation of Holland, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Lauenburg, and Lübeck. Charles de Mantambert is born. Alfred de Musset is born. Sir Walter Scott writes Lady of the Lake. Beethoven composes music to Goethe's "Egmont." Rossini composes the opera "La Cambiale di Matrimonio." Frédéric Chopin is born in Poland. Robert Schuman is born. First public billiards rooms are opened in London. U.S. population: 7,239,881
1811	Paraguay becomes independent of Spain. Later U.S. president William Harrison defeats Indians under Tecumseh at Tippecanoe, Indiana. Russians seize Belgrade. Jane Austin writes Sense and Sensibility. University of Christiania, Oslo, is founded. National University of Nicaragua is founded. The Prague Conservatoire is opened. Hungarian composer Franz Liszt is born. Thorvaldsen sculpts "Procession of Alexander the Great."
1812	Andersen visits the theater at Odense for the first time.
1813
1814
1815
1816	Andersen's father dies of an illness he contracted when he enlisted as a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars.
1817
1818	Andersen's Mother remarries.
1819	Hans Christian Andersen goes from his home town of Odense to Copenhagen in order to try his luck at the Royal Theater. He finds influential Patrons after only a few weeks.
1820
1821
1822	Andersen turns in a couple of badly written plays. They are rejected; however, they are seen as having promise. Jonas Collin becomes Andersen's guardian and sends him to Slagelse to school.
1823
1824
1825
1826	Andersen's headmaster, Simon Meisling, moves to Elsinore and Andersen follows. Andersen writes "The Dying Child."
1827	Andersen is miserable with Meisling. Collin finally takes the complaints seriously and gives Andersen a private tutor. Andersen publishes poems in the leading literary journal Kjøbenhavns Flyvende Post. "The Dying Child" appears in Danish and German.
1828	Andersen passes his examinations and matriculates at Copenhagen University.
1829	Andersen publishes his first prose work, Fodreise [Journey on Foot], modeled after ETA Hoffmann's works. Andersen also writes a successful play, Kjærlighed paa Nicolai Taarn [Love in Nicholas' Tower].
1830
1831	Andersen writes his first important collection of poems. He travels to Germany where he meets Ludwig Tieck in Dresden and Adalbert von Chamisso in Berlin. Upon his return, Andersen writes a travel log called Skyggebilleder [Silhouettes].
1832	Andersen writes librettos for a musical and an opera. He writes his first autobiography, which remains unpublished until 1926.
1833	Andersen starts his travels which will take him into the following year. He journeys through Germany and France to Italy. Andersen meets and befriends the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen at the artist colony in Rome.
1834
1835	Andersen publishes his first novel, Improvisatoren [The Improvisatore] and his first collection of tales under the title Eventyr, fortalte for Børn [Fairy Tale, told for Children]
1836	Andersen continues to write plays and two novels O.T. and Kun en Spillemand [Only a Fiddler]. They enjoy a certain amount of success being translated into German, Swedish, Dutch, English, and later several other languages.
1837	Andersen makes his first trip to Sweden, where he meets the author Frederika Bremer. The French homme de lettres Xavier Marmier writes a biographical article on Andersen including a translation of "The Dying Child." The article, "Vie d'un poéte" [The Life of a Poet], appears in Revue de Paris and has a decisive influence on Andersen's becoming a known literary figure in Europe.
1838	Søren Kierkegaard writes an attack on Andersen's writing style in his first book Af en endnu Levendes Papirer [From the Papers of One Still Living], a review of Kun en Spillemand [Only a Fiddler]. Andersen is given the royal literary scholarship.
1839
1840	Andersen's play Mullatten [The Mulatto] is performed at The Royal Theater in Copenhagen, and later that year in Stockholm and Odense. Andersen departs for another tour of Europe and includes the Orient. On this trip, he meets Franz Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
1841
1842	Andersen writes another travel log based on his journey called En Digters Bazar [A Poet's Bazaar].
1843	Andersen writes a new series of tales called simply Eventyr [Tales]. He also meets the Swedish singer Jenny Lind.
1844	Andersen nurtures a close friendship with Grand Duke Carl Alexander von Sachsen-Weimar, who wants Andersen installed as the new Goethe in Weimar.
1845	Andersen's novels are translated into English
1846
1847	Andersen writes his first official autobiography, Mit Livs Eventyr [The Story of My Life]. His collected works are published in German.
1848	Andersen's tales are published in French
1849	Andersen puts on his first play for the popular theater Casino.
1850
1851	Andersen writes a travel account called I Sverrig [In Sweden] containing his poetical credo which is a blend of poetry, religion and science. Andersen is given the title professor.
1852
1853	The Danish edition of Samlede Skrifter [Collected Works] begins to appear, including a revised version of Mit Livs Eventyr [The Fairy Tale of My Life].
1854
1855
1856
1857	Andersen makes a second trip to England where he overstays his welcome with Charles Dickens, ending their friendship.
1858	Andersen reads aloud his tales for the first time at the newly-established Workers' Association (established by middle-class workers). He reads there about 20 times in subsequent years, often reading to audiences of 500-900.
1859
1860
1861
1862	Andersen begins a travel to Spain that will conclude in the following year.
1863	Andersen writes another travel account called I Spanien [In Spain].
1864
1865
1866	Andersen travels to Portugal, writing about the trip in Et Besøg i Portugal [A Visit to Portugal] published in 1868.
1867	Andersen is given the title Councilor of State and later Honorary Citizen of Odense. Odense is illuminated in his honor.
1868	Andersen publishes the story "The Dryad" about the world exposition in Paris in 1867. He meets the young critic Georg Brandes, who writes a seminal article about Andersen the following year in Illustreret Tidende.
1869
1870	Andersen writes his sixth and last novel, Lykke-Peer [Lucky Peer].
1871	Andersen takes a trip to Norway.
1872	Andersen publishes his final collection of tales.
1873
1874	Andersen is made konferensråd a high, now obsolete, Danish title.
1875	Hans Christian Andersen dies on the 4th of August, probably of cancer, at the home of the Jewish merchant family Melchior, who have been taking care of him for some time.