Elsinore redirects here. For other places and things named Elsinore, see Elsinore (disambiguation).

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Helsingør
City
Kronborg Castle
Coat of arms
Country	Denmark
Region	Region Hovedstaden
Municipality	Helsingør Municipality
Center
- coordinates	56°02′0″N 12°37′0″E / 56.033333°N 12.616667°E / 56.033333; 12.616667Coordinates: 56°02′0″N 12°37′0″E / 56.033333°N 12.616667°E / 56.033333; 12.616667
Population	46,101 (2009-01-01)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	3000
Helsingør (right center) in Denmark

Helsingør (Danish pronunciation: [hɛlseˈŋøɐ̯ˀ]; in English also known as Elsinore) is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,101 (1 January 2009)^[1] including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde. It is known internationally as the setting of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, whence the spelling 'Elsinore' originated.

Contents 1 History 2 Districts 3 International relations 3.1 Twin towns — Sister cities 4 In fiction 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

The name is derived from the word "hals" meaning "neck" or "narrow strait", referring to the narrow strait (Øresund) between what is now Helsingør and Helsingborg, Sweden. The Rerum Danicarum Historica (1631) claims that the history of Helsingør can be traced back to 70 BC, but this information is highly dubious. The people were mentioned as Helsinger (which may mean "the people of the strait"), for the first time in King Valdemar the Victorious's Liber Census Daniæ from 1231, but they should not be confused with the Helsings of Hälsingland in Sweden. Placenames show that the Helsinger may have had their main fort at Hälsingborg and a fortified landing place at Helsingør, to control the ferry route across the strait.

Before the Middle Ages Helsingør was just a marketplace where people sold goods. About 1200 AD the first church, Sct Olai Church, was built.^[2] A number of convents once surrounded the church, but now all that remains is the church building, today the cathedral of the Diocese of Helsingør. The oldest parts of the cathedral of Helsingør date back to the 1200s and tell us that the fishermen's village, as Helsingør was then, was a town of a certain importance. At least, there have always been some form of ferryboats crossing between Helsingør and Helsingborg.^[2]

Helsingør as we know it today was founded in the 1420s by the Danish king Eric of Pomerania. He established the Sound Dues in 1429 and built the castle 'Krogen', which was expanded in the 1580s and named Kronborg.^[2]

Kronborg Castle is a main tourist attraction. The play Hamlet has been performed a number of times in its courtyard.^[2]

The Swedish city of Helsingborg lies a short distance across the Øresund from Elsinore. European route E55 traverses the two cities; ferries connect the two sides.

[edit] Districts

Centrum

• North: Grønnehave (Green Gardens), Højstrup and Marienlyst
• West: Sundparken, Grøningen, Nøjsomheden and Vapnagård
• South: Skotterup and Snekkersten.

[edit] International relations

[edit] Twin towns — Sister cities

Helsingør is twinned with:

• Gdańsk, Poland, since 1992^[3]
• Sanremo, Italy

[edit] In fiction

• William Shakespeare's play Hamlet takes place at Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, which Shakespeare spelled "Elsinore".
• In the 1983 comedy Strange Brew, which is loosely based on Hamlet, the protagonists are given jobs at Elsinore Brewery.
• In Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series, Helsingør fires mortar shells at the heroes in book seven, The Surgeon's Mate, as they sail past on their way to a rendezvous in the Baltic.
• In Philip Roth's second Chapter of his novel Our Gang ('71), Trick E. Dixon in a fictive speech tries to claim Helsingør as US-territory and tries to convince the audience to occupy the area
• In Bret Easton Ellis's novel Lunar Park the street on which the character Bret Easton Ellis lives with his own father-son haunting issues is named Elsinore Lane.
• Several stories written by the Danish author Karen Blixen (or Isak Dinesen) take place in "Elsinore," including "The Supper at Elsinore" in her first published volume of stories, Seven Gothic Tales.
• A well-known poem by the Portuguese surrealist poet Mário Cesariny is named "You are welcome to Elsinore".

[edit] See also

• Helsingør municipality
• Ålsgårde
• Tourism in Denmark
• Helsingborg

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Helsingør

• Helsingør Tourist Bureau website
• Port of Helsingør
• Helsingør municipality's official website (in Danish only)
• Helsingør Leksikon: Local history wiki (in Danish only)
• Photos

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v • d • e 30 most populous urban areas of Denmark as of 1 January 2009, according to Statistics Denmark [1] 1. Copenhagen 1,167,569 2. Århus 239,865 3. Odense 158,678 4. Aalborg 122,461 5. Esbjerg 71,025 6. Randers 59,842 7. Kolding 56,249 8. Horsens 52,518 9. Vejle 50,654 10. Roskilde 46,292 11. Helsingør 46,101 12. Herning 45,470 13. Silkeborg 41,979 14. Næstved 41,717 15. Fredericia 39,484 16. Viborg 35,108 17. Køge 34,733 18. Holstebro 34,062 19. Hørsholm 33,039 20. Taastrup 32,102 21. Slagelse 31,682 22. Hillerød 29,683 23. Svendborg 27,179 23. Sønderborg 27,179 25. Holbæk 26,623 26. Hjørring 24,963 27. Frederikshavn 23,511 28. Haderslev 21,435 29. Skive 20,686 30. Ringsted 20,575

v • d • e 50 most populous urban areas in the Nordic countries  Denmark ·  Finland ·  Iceland ·  Norway ·  Sweden 1.  Stockholm 1,252,000 2.  Copenhagen 1,167,569 3.  Helsinki 1,027,635 4.  Oslo 876,391 5.  Gothenburg 510,500 6.  Malmö 258,000 7.  Turku 248,598 8.  Århus 228,700 9.  Bergen 227,752 10.  Tampere 209,748 11.  Reykjavík 195,000 12.  Stavanger 189,828 13.  Trondheim 160,072 14.  Odense 152,100 15.  Uppsala 144,839 16.  Oulu 137,370 17.  Jyväskylä 128,114 18.  Aalborg 122,461 19.  Västerås 107,000 20.  Fredrikstad 101,698 21.  Lahti 100,444 22.  Örebro 98,200 23.  Linköping 97,400 24.  Drammen 96,563 25.  Kuopio 91,845 26.  Helsingborg 91,500 27.  Kouvola 88,396 28.  Skien 86,923 29.  Jönköping 84,400 30.  Norrköping 83,600 31.  Pori 75,562 32.  Lund 76,200 33.  Umeå 75,600 34.  Joensuu 72,167 35.  Esbjerg 71,900 36.  Lappeenranta 70,210 37.  Gävle 68,700 38.  Kristiansand 67,547 39.  Hämeenlinna 66,257 40.  Borås 63,400 41.  Södertälje 60,300 42.  Eskilstuna 60,200 43.  Randers 59,842 44.  Rovaniemi 59,274 45.  Vaasa 58,607 46.  Täby 58,593 47.  Karlstad 58,500 48.  Seinäjoki 56,578 49.  Kolding 56,249 50.  Halmstad 55,688