Harald of the Year

three white harald awards waiting to be decorated by the designer

The bird of wisdom

"Harald of the year" is Copenhagen University's Teacher of the Year prize and is awarded every year in November. The 27 cm high sculpture was first modelled in 1912 by the sculptor Peter Herold for Royal Copenhagen and symbolizes the bird of wisdom; the horned owl.

the artist

Every year, Royal Copenhagen collaborates with a new artist to decorate the owl, and in 2021 Ditte Ejlerskov had the honour. Ditte Ejlerskov is known for her work with tones and gradients, and masters the balance of creating art that is simple but at the same time very impactful.

Read More about Ditte Ejlerskov
Ditte Ejlerskov has decorated three owls: one for the award recipient, one for herself and one for the Royal Copenhagen Historical Archive.

the process

Ditte Ejlerskov has decorated three owls: one for the award recipient, one for herself and one for the Royal Copenhagen Historical Archive.

the Winner of 2021

Associate Professor Hin-Yan Liu wins The Teacher of the Year Award 2021

a selection of ditte ejlerskov's work

previous winners and designers

YEAR WINNER DESIGNER
1988 Bjørn Holstein Jens Birkemose
1989 Graham Caie Pia Schutzmann
1990 Jens Martin Knudsen Ivan Weiss
1991 Hans Keiding Arne Haugen Sørensen
1992 Erik Aschengreen Doris Bloom
1993 Elisabeth Bock Bjørn Nørgaard
1994 Uffe Hansen Peter Brandes
1995 Peter Rossel Torben Ebbesen
1996 Finn Bojsen Møller Carl Henning Pedersen
1997 Jonathan Schwartz Sten Lykke Madsen
1998 Henning Bech Maja Lisa Engelhardt
1999 John Pedersen Per Arnoldi
2000 Bodil Ejrnæs Lise Malinovsky
2001 Jan Philip Solovej Nina Sten Knudsen
2002 Yoichi Nagashima Mette Hannemann
2003 Angel Alzaga Tal Rosenzweig
2004 Hans Bonde John Kørner
2005 Una Canger

Hans Voigt Steffensen
 2006  Vincent Gabrielsen  Tenka Gammelgaard
2007  Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard  Anna Sørensen
2008  Stuart James Ward  Lene Adler Petersen
2009  Jan H. Christensen  Cathrine Raben Davidsen
2010 Helle  Lars Ahlstrand
2011  John Tøndering  Pia Andersen
2012  Mette Birkedal Bruun  Allan Otte
2013  Jan Halborg Jensen  Wouter Dolk
2014  Elmar Josef Renner  Lars Nørgård
2015  Anders Rønn Nielsen  Mette Winckelmann
2016  Marianne Vestergaard  Maiken Bent
2017  Flemming Fryd Johansen  La Vaughn Belle
2018  Andreas Bloch Ehlers  Emily Gernild
2019  Maria Damkjær  Troels Carlsen
2020  Nicole Schmitt  Martin Bigum
2021  Hin-Yan Liu  Ditte Ejlerskov
2022  Jørgen Olsen  Henrik Vibskov
2023  Cecilie Rubow  Anton Funck