Hans Christian Andersen’s tale “The Little Match Girl” was first published in 1845. The story appeared in Copenhagen on 18 November 1845 in the collection “New Fairy Tales. First Book. First Collection. 1845.”
It follows a poor girl who tries to keep warm by lighting matches on a freezing New Year’s Eve. Each flame gives her a comforting vision, including food, warmth, and her deceased grandmother. The story ends with the girl’s death, presented as a spiritual escape from suffering.
Andersen reportedly connected the tale with a picture of a poor child selling matches, though he transformed that image into a highly symbolic story. The work is often grouped with his darker literary fairy tales rather than with purely comic or magical children’s stories.
Translations sometimes alter the title to “The Little Match Girl” or “The Little Matchstick Girl.” The original publication date remains 1845, a period when Andersen was producing several of his best-known tales.