Zealand
District: Frederiksborg amt
The old Danish port and trading town of Helsingør (more familiar in English as Hamlet's "Elsinore") lies in the northeast of the island of Zealand, only 4.5 km/3 mi from the Swedish town of Helsingborg on the other side of the Oresund; a bridge is planned.
History
The origins of the
town can be traced back to the first half of the 13th C. After the Norwegians had burned down the settlement in 1288 King Eric of Pomerania began, in 1420, to build a new castle on the outermost spit of land; this castle was called "Krogen" or "Ørekrog". In 1426 the town was granted its charter. Eric introduced tolls for vessels passing through the Oresund; both banks of the channel then belonged to Denmark and every ship which sailed through the Sound had to pay a toll accordingly. The King made the town an ecclesiastical center and three monasteries were founded. When in 1658 the easterly provinces of the country (Schonen, etc.) fell to Sweden, Helsingor lost much of its former importance.
During the 17th C. several epidemics led to a decline in population. At the end of the 18th C. English and Scottish merchants settled in Helsingor; the town obtained a land link with Copenhagen. In 1857 tolls in the Sound were abolished. Since the end of the 19th C. many holiday villas have sprung up between Helsingor and Copenhagen and tourism has benefited the town considerably.
Economy
Helsingor possesses a shipyard as well as engineering and textile industries. A rail ferry plies across the Øresund to Helsingborg.
The town
The town is divided into an inner district, a northwestern and a northeastern area where, on a peninsula, stands Kronborg Castle.
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