This period also counts as "the Golden Age" of Danish intellectual history.

A sign of renewed intellectual vigor is the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1814.

Literature, painting, sculpture, and philosophy all experience an unusually vibrant period.

The stories of Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) will became popular not only in Denmark, but all over Europe and in the United States.

The ideas of the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) will spread far beyond Denmark, influencing not only his own era, but proving instrumental in the development of new philosophical systems after him.

The sculptures of Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1834) grace public buildings all over Denmark and other artists appreciated and copy his style.

N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783–1872) tries to reinvigorate the Danish National Church and contributes to the hymns used by the church in Denmark.

Bernhard Severin Ingemann, inspired by Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels, Ingemann produced his series of Danish historical romances, by virtue of which he disputes with Hand Christian Andersen the title of the children's writer of Denmark.

Their subjects are all taken from Danish history.

The first, and perhaps the best, is Valdemar Seir (Valdemar the Victorious, 1826), which had been followed by Erik Menveds Bamdom (Erik Menved's Childhood, 1828); Kong Erik og de Fredløse (King Erik and the Outlaws, 1833); and Prins Otto af Danmark og Hans Samtid (Prince Otto of Denmark and his Time, 1835).

While his historical romances show a lack of accuracy, their strong nationality gives them a special interest to the student of Danish culture: Ingemann can be said to have introduced the historical novel in Danish literature.

A vicar’s son, he had been left fatherless in his youth.

While a student at the University of Copenhagen, he had published his first collection of poems (1811; vol. ii, 1812), which show great influence of German romanticism.

Critics describe their sickly sentimentality as reflecting the unhealthy condition of the poet's body and mind at this time.

These works had been followed by a long allegorical poem, De sorte Riddere (The Black Knights, 1814); then followed by six plays, of which the best is considered to be Reinald Underbamet (The Miraculous Child Reinald, 1816), and the most popular, Blanca, (1815).

In 1817 he had published his first prose work, De Underjordiske, et bornholmsk Eventyr (The Subterranean Ones, a Story of Bornholm), followed in 1820 by Eventyr og Fortœllinger (Narratives and Miraculous Tales), many of them imitations of Hoffmann.

During 1818-19, he had traveled on the Continent, and in 1822 had been appointed instructor of the Danish Language and Literature at the Academy of Sorø.

Bernhard Severin Ingemann, inspired by Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels, Ingemann produced his series of Danish historical romances, by virtue of which he disputes with Hans Christian Andersen the title of the children's writer of Denmark.

Their subjects are all taken from Danish history.

The first, and perhaps the best, is Valdemar Seir (Valdemar the Victorious, 1826), which had been followed by Erik Menveds Bamdom (Erik Menved's Childhood, 1828); Kong Erik og de Fredløse (King Erik and the Outlaws, 1833); and Prins Otto af Danmark og Hans Samtid (Prince Otto of Denmark and his Time, 1835).

While his historical romances show a lack of accuracy, their strong nationality gives them a special interest to the student of Danish culture: Ingemann can be said to have introduced the historical novel in Danish literature.

A vicar’s son, he had been left fatherless in his youth.

While a student at the University of Copenhagen, he had published his first collection of poems (1811; vol. ii, 1812), which show great influence of German romanticism.

Critics describe their sickly sentimentality as reflecting the unhealthy condition of the poet's body and mind at this time.

These works had been followed by a long allegorical poem, De sorte Riddere (The Black Knights, 1814); then followed by six plays, of which the best is considered to be Reinald Underbamet (The Miraculous Child Reinald, 1816), and the most popular, Blanca, (1815).

In 1817 he had published his first prose work, De Underjordiske, et bornholmsk Eventyr (The Subterranean Ones, a Story of Bornholm), followed in 1820 by Eventyr og Fortœllinger (Narratives and Miraculous Tales), many of them imitations of Hoffmann.

During 1818-19, he had traveled on the Continent, and in 1822 had been appointed instructor of the Danish Language and Literature at the Academy of Sorø.

Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection. (Danish: Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. Første Samling.) is a collection of nine fairy tales published in a series of three installments by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark between May 1835 and April 1837, and represent Andersen's first venture into the fairy tale genre.

The first installment of sixty-one unbound pages is published May 8, 1835, and contains "The Tinderbox", "Little Claus and Big Claus", "The Princess and the Pea" and "Little Ida's Flowers".

The first three tales are based on folktales Andersen had heard in his childhood while the last tale is completely Andersen's invention and created for Ida Thiele, the daughter of Andersen's early benefactor, the folklorist Just Matthias Thiele.

Reitzel paid Andersen thirty rixdollars for the manuscript, and the booklet is priced at twenty-four shillings.

The second booklet is published on December 16, 1835, and contains "Thumbelina", "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion".

"Thumbelina" is completely Andersen's invention, though inspired by "Tom Thumb" and other stories of miniature people

"The Naughty Boy" is based on a poem by Anacreon about Cupid, and "The Traveling Companion" is a ghost story with which Andersen had experimented in 1830.

Hans Christian Anderson had begun writing children’s stories in 1835, publishing the first installment of his immortal Fairy Tales (Danish: Eventyr).

More stories, completing the first volume, had been published in 1836 and 1837.

The quality of these stories is not immediately recognized, and they sell poorly.

At the same time, Andersen has enjoyed more success with two novels: O.T. (1836) and Only a Fiddler.

His specialty book that is still known today is the Ugly Duckling (1837), which, with "Thumbelina" and other tales, demonstrates Andersen's identification with, and his sympathies for, the 'outsider' searching for his or her place in society.

The Little Mermaid, a fairy tale about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mer-person to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince, is first published in 1837.

It will eventually be adapted to various media including musical theater and animated film.