Elsinore is a city on the coast of northeastern North Zealand and the gateway to the rest of Scandinavia. Helsingør is the center of North Zealand's largest municipality and the fourth largest urban area on Zealand after Copenhagen, Roskilde and Hørsholm, located at the narrowest part of the Sound. Just on the other side (5 km.) Of the Sound is Helsingborg (approx. 130,000 people, many of whom go to Elsinore to shop and experience the culture). Helsingør is a port and ferry town with frequent departures via car ferry and passenger ferry to Helsingborg in Scania. Elsinore is world famous due to Kronborg and Hamlet. Elsinore has also become world famous for the M / S Museum of Maritime Affairs. Elsinore is a regional trading area for North Zealand within a number of product areas, including the Swedish side of the Sound; Elsinore with approx. 500 stores have a retail catchment area of over 500,000 customers within approximately 30 minutes drive.
By plane
Copenhagen Kastrup Airport is 67 km away.
By train
The station is the north-eastern terminus of the Danish railway network.
The listed building has good connections to Copenhagen and transport
links to ferries and buses.
In the street
From Copenhagen you
can get to Helsingør via the E47, approx. 46 km.
By boat
There
is a ferry connection from Helsingborg in Sweden to Helsingør, the
crossing takes about 20 minutes. Ferries: Tycho Brahe and MS Aurora,
each with 1250 passengers and 240 cars.
Culture
Helsingør city and surroundings have a very lively
cultural life with Kronborg as the centre. The Helsingør Revyen has been
known since 1917. In addition, mention can be made of HamletScenen,
which produces and presents national and international theater in
Kronborg. Among other things. at the annual Denmark event, in August,
Shakespeare at Hamlet's Castle.
At the old Helsingør Shipyard,
the Kulturværftet has been opened as a cultural centre. In 2013, the
Maritime Museum opened in connection with the Kulturværftet.
Architecture
Helsingør has been spared major fires, which is why a
large part of the town center today consists of houses from the
16th-18th centuries. However, it is especially the two large church
buildings that dominate Helsingør. The city's cathedral, Sankt Olai
Church, is the city's oldest building, the oldest parts of the church
date from the 13th century, when it was the size of a small Romanesque
village church. The church as it stands today, however, dates from 1559.
The church is notable for the many interior decorations, among which the
frescoes and the pulpit should be highlighted.
Next to the
cathedral are St. Mary's Church and Vor Frue Kloster. The monastery is a
Carmelite monastery, which today stands as the most well-preserved
monastery complex in the entire Nordic region. Particularly impressive
are the newly restored frescoes and the organ, which looks largely as it
did in the 1660s, when the famous composer and organist Dietrich
Buxtehude played it.
Elsinore is, among other things, home to the
vocational school and the International College.
The old
Helsingør Theater was demolished, but was rebuilt in 1961 in Den Gamle
By in Aarhus, where it is today used for cultural events.
Kronborg castle In 1420 a first fortress was
built at this point. It was expanded in 1574-1585 and transformed
into a royal residence in the Renaissance style. After a fire in
1629, the fortress was rebuilt. In 1658 the Swedes managed to occupy
the fortress. After another conversion in 1688, it was considered
the strongest fortress of its time. From 1785 to 1922 it served as
barracks. The castle was subsequently renovated and opened as a
museum in 1935. The castle has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site
since 2000. Kronborg Castle is also known as Hamlet's Castle, as
Shakespeare set the action of this play at this castle.
M/S
Museet for Søfart (Maritime Museum of Denmark), Ny Kronborgvej 1,
3000 Helsingør. Phone: +4549210685.
Kronborg Gallery (The
Kronborg Galleries), Kronborg.
Kulturværftet, Allegade 2, 3000
Helsingor. On the site of a former shipyard.
Marienlyst Castle
(Marienlyst Slot), Marienlyst Allé 32, 3000 Helsingør.
Helsingor
Cathedral (Saint Olai Kirke), Sct Anna Gade 12, 3000 Helsingor.
Danserindebrønden (Dancers Fountain)
Danmarks Tekniske Museum
(Science and technology museum with steam engines, historic cars and
airplanes and a pewter workshop.), Fabriksvej 25, 3000 Helsingør.
Phone: +4549222611.
Sct. Mariæ Kirke (Carmelite Convent and St.
Mary's Church), Sct Anna Gade 38, 3000 Helsingør. Phone:
+4549211774.
Marienlyst Strandhotel, Nordre Strandvej 2A, 3000 Helsingør. Phone: +4549214000.
Nordsjællands Hospital - Sundhedshuset Helsingør, Murergade 5, 3000 Helsingør. Tel.: +4548294060.
Port Office (Tourist Information), Nordhavnsvej 15, 3000 Helsingør. Phone: +4549281080.
The name Helsingør is mentioned in King Valdemar's Jordebog from 1231 as Hælsingør, which comes from the term helsinger, who are the residents of the neck, where the neck alludes to Øresund's narrowest place. The suffix -ør(e) means 'gravel beach'. The name thus means "Helsinki's gravel beach".
Helsingør was originally located at the extreme tip of Northeast
Zealand on a strip of gravel beach (ør).
According to Arild
Huitfeldt, there must already have been a town and a castle in 1288,
as it is reported that the Norwegian king Erik Præstehader, who had
taken the side of Erik Klipping's murderers, on the fifth day after
St. On Peder's Day, he set sail with a fleet for "Helsingør", and
"the second day after, the king went ashore and burned Helsingør to
ashes." The people fled to "Flynderborg".
A royal charter of
1308 was issued from Helsingør ("Helsingora"), and not from
Flynderborg. Three years later, the fleet of the Hanseatic cities
destroyed the city, and this happened again in 1372, and Flynderborg
is not even mentioned then as a place of refuge. The first known
document in which Helsingør is mentioned as a city is from 22 July
1389.
In the time of Erik of Pomerania (about 1423) the old castle was
demolished, after which a new one was built, called Krogen or
Ørekrog. At the same time, the king gave the city great favors and
privileges, which is undoubtedly explained by the introduction of
the strait customs around 1425. Until now, the city had not been
very significant, as until that time there was still a market town
at Søborg, just as Dragør, Malmø, Skanør and Falsterbo were
important market places and fishing beds by the Sundet. Furthermore,
the surrounding area was almost entirely covered with forest. But
Eric of Pomerania's privileges and the introduction of Sundtolden
meant a strong recovery for the strategically well-located city. By
privilege of 1416, the king gave 10 years of tax exemption for those
who built stone houses. The citizens were also given free firewood
from all kinds of trees, except oak and beech: "so that our new
market town on Ørekrog can be built and coffered the better and
faster". On 2 June 1426, the king again granted privileges for "the
new town on the hook", which at that time already had a mayor and
alderman, and on 13 March 1441 Christopher of Bavaria renewed these
privileges for Helsingør. On 3 July 1456, Christian I gave
confirmation and improvement of the privileges, from which document
it can be seen that the herring fishery in the autumn was still of
importance to the town at that time, and that it was common for the
citizens to have pigs on the olden in the surrounding large forests.
Elsinore's unusually large herd of pigs is believed to have been the
main occupation prior to the introduction of the sound customs duty.
The city's privileges were confirmed again on 7 March 1516, 16 June
1540 and 10 May 1561.
It is reasonably from this Helsingør's
flourishing period in the first half of the 15th century that its
two churches originate, just as its three monasteries also date from
this time. Outside the city, where Marienlyst Castle later came to
be located, was the gray friar monastery St. Anne Kloster, founded
in 1420 by Eric of Pomerania, who dedicated St. Anne Chapel. The
monastery church was consecrated on 27 January 1427. In 1496 the
monks were brought to observant by the gray brother Anders Glob. At
the Reformation, the Gray Friars monastery was abolished; the
building was probably demolished in the middle of the 16th century,
and on its grounds Frederik II had the pleasure castle "Lundehave"
built in the 1580s.
On the opposite edge of the city, close
to the southern gate, Svingelport, and in the quarter intersected by
Munkegade, Sortebrødrestræde (for many years erroneously named
Gråbrødrestræde) and Klostergade, was the Sortebrødreklosteret. It
was founded by Christopher of Bavaria by deed of gift dated 3 March
1441 and dedicated to the Dominicans' usual patron saint, Saint
Nicholas. In 1536, the monastery was donated by Christian III to the
city of Helsingør for a general hospital, and by letter of 3
February 1541, Sankt Jakobs Hus, a small hospital east of Sankt Olai
Church, was united with it. However, in 1541 the limbs were
transferred to Vor Frue Kloster, and Sankt Nicolai Kloster was then
dedicated to this. The monastery seems to have been demolished in
the 17th century. While St. Anne and St. Nicolai Kloster thus played
no major role, this does not apply to the third, the
Karmeliterklosteret or Our Lady's Kloster, founded in 1430 by Eric
of Pomerania. This monastery seems to have occupied the highest rank
among the Danish Carmelite houses. The provincial prior of the order
is believed to have had his seat here. It was also a rich foundation
which, in addition to Helsingør and the immediate surroundings, also
had more distant properties, such as in Copenhagen and Assens
(Helligåndshospitalet). In 1517, Christian II donated the monastery
Sankt Jørgens Gård near Copenhagen, so that funds from this could be
used for the newly established Carmelite college in Sankt
Pederstræde. But already in 1522 the monastery lost this possession
again. During the Reformation, Our Lady's Monastery played a certain
role: Dr. Andreas Christensen was prior here, and from here came two
of the most outstanding men of the time, Povl Helgesen and Frants
Vormordsen. In 1541, it was converted into a hospital, and as such
it was often (and still was in the latter part of the 17th century)
called Helliggæsthus. A Sankt Jørgenshus for lepers, located outside
the city, is mentioned in Helsingør's city court from 1443.
Helsingør had a Sankt Gertrudsgilde, which by royal privilege of 20
January 1514 was entitled to the money and other property found on
corpses that drifted in on the beach between Nivå and Hornbæk, as it
had taken on the duty of burying the recovered bodies.
Of
documents relating to Helsingør from the first half of the 16th
century, mention is made of King Hans' letter of 29 December 1508 to
the authorities and citizens of Helsingør to surround the city with
graves and fortifications due to the war conditions. However, this
plan was never implemented. Frederik I's letter of 15 July 1532
stating that the strait toll must still be collected in Helsingør,
since Christian II had transferred its collection to Copenhagen.
Judgment of the King's Court of Justice of 5 May 1541 regarding the
relationship between Helsingør and Helsingborg, according to which
the citizens of Helsingør, who "do not have a square in their town
like other market towns, then they may freely buy grain and edible
goods for their needs in other market towns and countries without
duty, except on the fishing beds". They therefore also had to trade
in Helsingborg in the same way, whereas it was also allowed for
Helsingborg's citizens to trade in Helsingør. A royal letter of 11
December 1547 determined that there should be a market day in
Helsingør every Saturday, and that the following parishes should
supply grain and other goods: Karlebo, Lynge, Grønholt, Asminderød,
Lillerød, Tikjøb, Nøddebo, Blovstrød, Herlev, Frerslev and Tjæreby.
In other words, it applied to the entire area down to Sjælsø and
southeast of Arresø.
Throughout the 16th century, Helsingør was hit by many accidents. The
town was destroyed by fire in 1500, and was later burned again, in 1523,
by the Lübeckers. During the Count's Feud in 1535, the town was
captured, but, together with the castle Krogen, was recaptured the
following year. The plague ravaged Helsingør in 1536 and 1583: in this
last year, as many as 1,200 people should have died. An epidemic
disease, the "sweating disease", also haunted Helsingør in 1529. Despite
all these misfortunes, the city recovered more or less. The health tax
contributed to this. Furthermore, during the Swedish war, Frederik II
had learned that the "Krogen" was not a sufficient protection for to
ensure the collection of the sound customs duty. Therefore, in the years
1574–83, the king had a considerable Renaissance castle built, which was
named Kronborg. In addition to functioning as a fortress, Kronborg was
also a regularly visited royal residence, which, however, meant no small
disadvantages for the city as a result of accommodation and transport of
soldiers and courtiers. Many foreigners also took up residence in
Helsingør, including some Calvinists who fled from the Netherlands,
several of whom must have been wealthy people. The fact that Søborg
emerged from the number of market towns in the middle of the century
also contributed to Helsingør's increased importance. But the increasing
prosperity and with the growing number of visits from foreigners,
morality seems to have been too downward, which can be seen from
Frederik II's letter of 13 July 1574 "about loose women in Helsingør". A
royal letter of 28 August 1566 allowed the citizens of Helsingør to buy
grain and other things in the Isefjord and at Sundby Færge (later
Frederikssund).
A royal letter of 13 July 1574 forbade the Dutch
Calvinists who had fled to Helsingør to offer hospitality, stroll in the
street and the like during the service. New privileges were granted for
Helsingør on 13 January 1577 on the occasion of Kronborg's construction.
It was said that the old privileges were confirmed, at the same time
that the city's citizens were given tax exemption for 20 years in return
for having to "host our courtiers" and take them and others who come
with passports over to Helsingborg. On 10 July 1570, Henrik Mogensen was
authorized to negotiate with the king about the introduction of water to
Helsingør. By grant of 16 July 1581, Peither Pester was given permission
to set up a pharmacy. By royal letter of 6 January 1582, the bishop of
Zealand and the mayor of Helsingør were ordered that the German weekday
service, which had been introduced a few years before in Mariekirken for
Dutch and Germans, should be held according to the provisions of the
church ordinance on the same days as in the Danish churches, namely
Wednesday and Friday.
A model register of 3 June 1583 on the
number of citizens stated that in the four quarters of the city there
were 137 bargemen, 63 double soldiers with armour, sword and spear, 14
with short guard, a total of 214 armed, in addition to the mayor and
council, a total of nine men in armor with sword and spear; 200 unarmed
of artisans and aging men. Even if the majority of these 414 people were
fathers of families, the calculation implies that the population for the
entire town hardly exceeded 2,000-3,000. A royal letter of 25 October
1616 ordered the construction of a ring wall. By royal letter of 4 March
1631 on Helsingør's trade in the Limfjord, the citizens' right to trade
is asserted "because they have no Axeltorv". In the years 1607–1614,
coins were minted in Helsingør.
The Swedish resident Magnus
Durell's relationship with Queen Christina dates from the beginning of
Frederik III's time, in which he provides information about Helsingør:
"The town has no great trade, but its flor consists mostly in the
custom-house, which consists of 2 customs officers, 6 customs clerks, a
visitor and a customs-house clerk. A few live here who have small
vessels, with which they sail for fishing or in the harvest fishing up
whatever may be lost in the Kattegat or between Skagen and Helsingør due
to storms and storms. Sometimes they sail up to Danzig, Königsberg or
other places in the Baltic Sea, from where they get grain, which they
harvest in the winter. However, several of these are strangers than
Danes, namely Dutch, civil servants and Hamburgers"
In 1618 and
again in 1654, the city was hit by disease epidemics, which caused the
population to fall. According to the church register for Sankt Mariæ
parish (the only one preserved from the market town at this time), 221
people were buried, but a record mentions that 2,168 people died in
total in the year 1654, corresponding to about a third of the town's
inhabitants.
During the Carl Gustav Wars (1658-1660), Kronborg
was occupied by Swedish troops, under whose bombardment the eastern part
of the city suffered greatly, and the discharges in Helsingør, which
were connected with it, brought great burdens and inconveniences to the
city.
Some compensation for the losses the city had suffered before and
during the Swedish wars, it received after the peace in the form of
the immigration of Scanians who would not enter into subservient
relations with Sweden. In 1672, the population was calculated at
4,033.
In the year 1682, it was decided that Helsingør should
be among the market towns that could trade in foreign countries. The
magistrate was simultaneously expanded to 2 mayors and 5
councillors. On 12 May 1685, the ferry had its first articles of
lichen made. The number of ferrymen consisted of approx. 100. It was
not until 1691 that the town was remedied for the often complained
about lack of an axeltorv, as the site of a burnt farm in the middle
of the town was laid out for square purposes. Although Helsingør was
among the towns that had the right to shipping abroad, it can be
seen from a report from the magistrate of 2 April 1704 that the town
did not own any ship to travel abroad with and only 12 vessels for
domestic voyages, from 1 to 8 weeks gestation.
In 1710–11
Helsingør was haunted by the great plague, which seems to have been
brought there by ships from Danzig, and during which 1,800 or about
a third of all the inhabitants died. The war with Sweden at the same
time and later brought great difficulties for the city in the form
of troop transport and accommodation.
On 26 September 1717,
the magistrate gave an overview of the town's constitution to the
district magistrate, in which it is stated that the town had 399
farms and houses that were inhabited, including 27 farms with
foundations, 76 farms and houses in fair condition, but uninhabited,
and 226 dilapidated houses and deserted places. The wall erected by
Christian IV had probably long since fallen or been abandoned, but
an enclosure of ditches and hedges for the sake of consumption was
still maintained in 1722. It is strange that in this century, after
the city had been repeatedly haunted by the plague , there was a
high mortality among the city's population, thus in 1727: 170 deaths
against 121 births, in 1741: 220 deaths against 136 births. On
January 8, 1750, it was announced to the entire citizenry that the
king had leased the place's customs (for a sum of 5,400 Riksdalers
annually) from the new year onwards to some of the traders, and the
citizens were encouraged to show "the same Respect and Obedience" to
the customs tenants and their officers as heretofore to the
majesty's own officers.
From the year 1751, there is a very
interesting "demonstration" from the magistrate's side. After this,
the number of real citizens was 315 and that of burghers 37; of the
former 304 and of the latter 24 engaged in bourgeois business; of
the latter 18 were merchants, 80 ferrymen, 5 carters, 7 bakers, 11
butchers, 7 blacksmiths, 6 carpenters, 6 tailors, 15 shoemakers and
7 glove makers. In the demonstration, it is stated that trade and
commerce with the ships sailing through the Sound was the city's
main source of income "in addition to the little it could get from
the garrison and The farmer". Of special glories and privileges, the
city only had free peat of 500 loads and freedom of storage for 3
years for French wines and brandies for shipment, and finally there
were 486 acres of land for the city sown with 123 tdr. of hartkorn,
which belonged partly to the bourgeoisie and partly the poor system.
In the middle of the 18th century, there was not much trade and
industry: in 1756, commercial council Classen is mentioned as the
only one in Elsinore that had its own ships, "with which he uses
Trafique to and from foreign places", in 1761 Adam Späth was given
the privilege to build a sugar refinery. The city did not yet have a
proper port, although the construction of one had already been
discussed several times in the 17th century. The ships had to dock
at bridges and bulwarks, several of which were paid for privately by
the landowners, and the large ship or customs bridge was in such a
state of disrepair in 1721 that its repair was ordered. It was not
until 1764 that the building of a harbor on the northern side of the
toll bridge was seriously tackled, as this was extended somewhat
over 200 feet in such a direction that ships, which were not allowed
to go deeper than 8 feet, could lie safely behind it , and in 1766
the facility was completed. The means of transport were no longer
good either: in 1763 the number of carters had decreased from 8 to 5
and their horses from 12 to 5 pairs, because the road between
Helsingør and Copenhagen was so poor: "Sanden ved Lokkerup and
Webek" and especially the driven stone bridge through Humlebæk
Forest destroyed both horses and carriages, and rarely a year passed
without them on "this Tour's long and arduous Distance added by both
Parts", and trips to Frederiksborg and other places rarely occurred.
It was precisely at that time that the construction of the chaussee
(royal road) from Copenhagen to Frederiksborg began, and around the
year 1790 it was taken to Helsingør.
In 1769, according to
the census (without garrison), the population was 3,669, and in 1787
the town had 4,829 inhabitants.
In the first half of the 19th
century, the Øresund Customs contributed to the city's growth and
prosperity. The city had a large number of ship-clearers and
supplied ships anchored to clear customs with supplies. In the year
1840 over 15,000 ships were cleared and in 1856 (Sundtolden's last
year) over 20,000. The largest number of ships in one day was 353
and Helsingør was the most visited port in the Nordics in the middle
of the century. The town grew rapidly: in 1801 the town had 5,282
inhabitants, in 1834 7,122 inhabitants, in 1840 7,645 inhabitants,
in 1845 7,995 inhabitants, in 1850 8,111 inhabitants and in 1855
9,097 inhabitants. The abolition of the Øresund customs duty in 1857
put the city in deep economic crisis, as ships no longer needed to
anchor to pay customs duties, and the city had a declining
population for a period: in 1860, the city had only 8,442
inhabitants, corresponding to a decrease of 7.2% .
However, the stagnation that hit Helsingør after the abolition of
the strait toll lasted only a short time. Improved transport
conditions, tourism and an incipient industrialization soon turned
the tide. Of great importance to the city was also the fact that it
became a transit city to Helsingborg, including for trains. On the
other hand, Helsingør never had any important upland trade, as
Hornbæk and Espergærde already seized the upland trade that existed
from the turn of the century (1900).
Technical improvements
Gradually, several improvements were made to the technical
installations in the city. A gasworks was built in 1854. It was
owned by a consortium, "Det danske Gaskompagni", an English company
that operated it on its own account, as an agreement was concluded
with the municipal council, after which the company was given the
exclusive right to supply the city with gas .
With regard to
the city's water supply, which had previously taken place from the
ponds south of the city, the waterworks underwent a significant
improvement in 1866 with the installation of filter devices and the
use of iron pipes instead of wooden pipes for the mains, whereby the
water was given a much more significant rise so that it could be
carried up to the floors, but it only supplied water to the
stakeholders, the other landowners had to build wells themselves,
and therefore the municipality, which bought the old waterworks,
built a new waterworks out on Grønnehave.
In the years
1867–94, sewer lines were laid through all streets.
The
railway is being built
In 1864, a railway, the Nordbanen, was
built, which ran from Copenhagen via Hillerød and Fredensborg to
Helsingør.
The port is being expanded
Despite several
expansions, the port soon proved to be too small. On February 15,
1866, a concession was granted to build a large harbor north of
Kronborg, which was to be connected to the existing harbor by a
110-foot-wide channel, and which was to be both a staging area for
trade between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea and a safe harbor a
port of emergency, where the ships, instead of anchoring at the
nest, could enter and wait for favorable winds, and where large
machine shops had to be able to compete with foreign countries.
However, the project was never carried out. The expansion of the
harbor was still urgently needed, which is why new considerations
were started, and in the years 1878–1886 extensive works were
carried out, whereby the entrance was improved, the southern pier
was rebuilt, a new basin was excavated into Grønnehave, thus, that
the harbor now had a surface area of just over 11 td. of land, of
which approximately 8½ td. ld. had a depth of 22 English feet, the
rest 20 feet. The width of the inlet was 126 feet with a depth of 22
feet. The total length of the quays was approximately 5,000 feet, of
which approximately half, which is commonly used for unloading and
loading, was provided with railway tracks. The harbor became
particularly important during severe icy winters, when sailing on
Copenhagen was stopped, as it was then used a lot as a port of
refuge. On the head of the southern pier, a fixed, red harbor
beacon, 21 feet above the sea, of the 6th order, was erected. In
addition, a lighthouse was installed at Kronborg.
By law of
30/3 1889, construction of a steam ferry berth for the ferry to
Helsingborg was approved, which was carried out in 1890-91 in the
southern corner of the harbour. The steam ferry was put into use in
the spring of 1892 with 5 daily connections between Helsingør and
Helsingborg. The old Ferry Act was repealed in 1882, and ferry
traffic was freed up. When it was abolished in 1882, the ferry
company numbered only 25 ferrymen with 12 men.
From the middle of the 1800s, Helsingør experienced an incipient
industrialization. Among the companies in and around the town around
1855 were Godthåb Glasværk with 51 employees, 6 brickworks (plus 4
in Tikøb Parish) with a total of 126 employees, 1 iron foundry, 1
wool spinning mill, dyeing and printing house, 1 cotton weaving
mill, 2 tobacco factories with a total of 17 employees , 1 machine
workshop for agricultural implements, 2 potteries with 7 employees,
4 tanneries with 13 employees. In addition, the town had 2 shipyards
(boat builders) with 55 employees and mainly engaged in ship
repairs, 2 steam flour mills.
In 1882, a new chapter in
Helsingør's history began when Helsingør Shipyard og Maskinbyggeri
A/S opened. It was also important that Wiibroes Brewery (founded
1840) started selling beer in bottles in 1896.
Elsinore
became first and foremost an industrial town. At the turn of the
century, the city had factories and industrial plants: the glass
factory "Godthaab", which made bottles in 2 furnaces; 2 brickworks
("Frugality" and "Klostermosegaard"); 1 cloth factory, with which
were connected a wool spinning mill, a dyeing mill and a printing
mill; 1 white goods spinning mill (approx. 40 looms); 1 machine
wallpaper factory; 2 tobacco factories; 1 large tannery; 1 lime
kiln; 1 mineral water bottling plant; 1 vinegar brewery; 1 Bavarian
and 3 white beer breweries; 1 brandy distillery with yeast factory;
several larger steam bakeries; 3 windmills and 2 steam turbines (one
of which, however, was not in operation in the summer of 1895); 1
large slaughterhouse, "Frederiksborg Amts Kreatur- og
Andels-Slagteri" (set up in 1894 at Grønnehave); 1 fishing net
factory (set up in 1892 at Grønnehave); 1 wooden shipbuilding that
belonged to a partnership (the main business was repairs). What,
however, particularly contributed to giving the city an industrial
character was the joint-stock company "Helsingørs Jærnskibs- og
Maskinbyggeri" (on Grønnehave, where the former beautiful Kronborg
Allé was located), established pursuant to a concession of 29
November 1881, with 7- 800 workers; in connection with it there was
a dry dock (between the shipyard and Kronborg). Next, the limited
company "Helsingørs Patent-Ophalingbedings Interessantskab",
established in 1878; it had "no small importance and is heavily
used". Of other larger enterprises mentioned: the limited company
"Helsingørs Dampskibsselskab", established in 1881 by merging
several companies, and a partnership that ran Marienlyst
Søbadeanstalt (the joint-stock company that was established on 20
December 1885 and bought the seaside hotel, which was built in
1860-61 according to drawings by Chr. Holsøe, just like the rented
Marienlyst Castle with park, was abolished in 1888; the castle with
the park belonged (and still belongs) to the municipality).
On 1 February 1890, the city had 11,076 inhabitants (in a census
carried out by the city council on 1 February 1895, the number of
inhabitants was 11,553). According to means of livelihood, the
population in 1890 was divided into the following groups, including
both breadwinners and dependents: 1,604 lived from intangible
activities, 4,718 from industry, 1,452 from trade and turnover, 474
from shipping, 271 from agriculture, 58 from horticulture, 108 from
fishing, while 1,729 were distributed in other ways of livelihood,
544 lived on their means, 104 enjoyed alms and 14 were in prison.
According to a census in 1906, the population was 14,534, of which
1,645 supported themselves by non-material activities, 396 by
agriculture, forestry and dairying, 116 by fishing, 8,141 by crafts
and industry, 1,720 by trade and more, 1,356 by transport, 560 were
salespeople, 306 lived on public support and 294 on other or
unspecified business. It was thus around the turn of the century
that more than half were employed in crafts and industry.
Throughout the interwar period, Helsingør's population grew: in 1921
15,457, in 1925 15,118, in 1930 15,841, in 1935 17,140, in 1940 17,965
inhabitants. But at the same time there was growth in the suburb of
Snekkersten, and a number of people with jobs in Helsingør also settled
in Espergærde, albeit modestly.
According to the 1925 business
census, there were 364 companies in Helsingør with 2,700 employees, of
which 2,042 were actual industrial workers. Of these, 165 were employed
in the food industry, 174 in the textile industry, 71 in the clothing
industry, 248 in the construction industry, 106 in the wood products
industry, 1,138 in the metal industry and 140 in other industry.
Employment in the metal industry was largely due to the shipyards.
At the census in 1930, Helsingør had 15,841 inhabitants, of which
1,345 supported themselves by non-material activities, 7,541 by craft
and industry, 1,769 by trade etc., 1,550 by transport, 509 by
agriculture, forestry and fishing, 1,043 by housework, 1,893 were out of
business and 191 had not stated the source of income.
In the
interwar period, Helsingør developed a certain network of upland
connections: in addition to the Nordbanen (which in 1934 got a running
board at Mørdrup), the Kystbanen and the Hornbækbanen, a bus connection
to Helsinge in 1922, a bus connection to Snekkersten, Espergærde and
Humlebæk in 1923 (extended to Sletten in 1930) and a bus connection to
Hornbæk in 1933 (1937 extended to Gilleleje).
Throughout most of
the 20th century, Elsinore's development rose and fell with the
development of local industry as well as railway operations and ferry
service. Of course, both trade and public services played a role
(Helsingør got Frederiksborg County's central library, hospital, police
station, fire service and similar services), but they played a mostly
withdrawn role. Only towards the end of the century, when the industry
declined in importance, did the other companies increase in importance
accordingly.
Helsingør and the surrounding fishing grounds played a central role in the rescue of the Danish Jews during the Second World War. Many locals were involved in the rescue work, and several of the great heroes came from here. Not least Erling Kiær and the others from the resistance group Helsingør Syklub, as well as the doctor Jørgen Gersfelt and the owner of Snekkersten Kro, H.C. Thomas.
After World War II, Elsinore continued its population growth. In
1945, 18,930 inhabitants lived in the market town, in 1950 21,010
inhabitants, in 1955 23,897 inhabitants, in 1960 26,658 inhabitants and
in 1965 29,327 inhabitants. The suburb of Snekkersten grew relatively
slowly, while Espergærde grew more strongly, not least due to the influx
of residents who had their jobs in Greater Copenhagen. According to an
estimate from 1957, 40% of Espergærde's inhabitants had work in
Helsingør, 40% in the capital, 12% in the rest of Northeast Zealand and
only 8% locally.
Elsinore's continued growth resulted in the
establishment of an urban development committee for Helsingøregnen,
comprising Helsingør City Municipality, Tikøb Municipality and
Asminderød-Grønholt Municipality. This drew up an urban development
plan, which assumed Snekkersten and Espergærde as the most important
future urban development areas, as at the same time the remaining vacant
areas within the city municipality's borders were assumed to be included
in urban development.
After the municipal reform in 1970
In
the municipal reform in 1970, Helsingør City Municipality and Tikøb
Parish Municipality were merged into Helsingør Municipality. Soon after,
work began on designing a new municipal plan for the new large
municipality. This happened at a time when redevelopment of outdated
urban areas was at the fore. In Helsingør, taking into account the many
historic buildings worthy of preservation, they chose to focus on
conservation renovation. This meant that the buildings had to be
preserved on the outside and transformed on the inside to modern housing
standards. Farm clearings took place to some extent. The urban renewal
process took place one by one and for the same reason took a long time.
The result was that the historic environment was largely preserved.
One of the questions that the municipal plan and redevelopment
planning had to take into account was the question of the need for new
shop and service premises. It was decided that this need should be met
by a so-called "relief centre", the Prøvestencentret, located on the
southern outskirts of the city, where it could serve both the city's own
inhabitants and the municipality's other inhabitants thanks to bus
connections and good parking conditions. Part of the municipal
administration was also assigned to this. Since in the first years after
the municipal merger there was a large expansion in the residential area
of Vapnagård, the new shop and service center was guaranteed a local
customer and service catchment area from the beginning.
Another
consequence of municipal planning was that the industry in the city's
inner parts was gradually moved out to a new industrial area on the
city's southern edge.
Helsingør is going through a major expansion (approx. 1000 new
homes from 2010-2020) and renewal, as several billions are being
spent on the establishment of the Culture Yard, new Maritime Museum,
Kronborg will be freed up, expansion of Nordhavnen and beach park,
brand new athletics stadium, new large luxury condominiums close to
the water (e.g. Kronborg beach town), new commercial areas and a new
regional theater "HamletScenen" which will take place in the new
Kulturværftet and at Kronborg. The city's largest residential area,
Vapnagaard Archived 1 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine has been
renovated in the period 2012-2015 for a total cost of over DKK 700
million. With a drive of less than 30 min. to Helsingør from
Copenhagen, there are also a number of people who commute to
Copenhagen or to Helsingør.
Efforts are being made to ensure
that the city has a permanent connection to Helsingborg in Scania.
The solution is expected to be the so-called HH tunnel.
Helsingør consists of Centrum, Gefionsparken, Grønnehave, Grønningen, Højstrup, Marienlyst, Nøjsomheden, Skotterup, Snekkersten, Sundparken, Vapnagaard, as well as outside the city Mørdrup-Espergærde and Kvistgård.
Ferry connections
In 1892, the ferry connection to Helsingborg was
opened, and when the Coastal Railway opened in 1897, Helsingør became a
traffic hub for the rest of Scandinavia.
In the 1930s, Elsinore's
population grew considerably, and the city's area tripled until the
1970s.
After World War II, DSB had a monopoly on train and car
ferry traffic to Helsingborg, but in the 1950s, Swedish Linjebuss
started a competing car ferry line, the LB ferries, from two terminals
on the Kronborg side of the harbor. And in the 1960s, the
Norwegian-flagged Sundbusserne were added for passengers without a car.
In the 1970s and 1980s, a boat left for Helsingborg close to every
five minutes, and the three shipping companies transported over 30
million passengers annually. The DSB ferries and the Sundbuses depart
every quarter of an hour and the LB ferries every twenty minutes.
During this period there was also a line from Snekkersten to
Helsingborg with a single vessel, "Marina", which was immensely popular
with the locals (not least pensioners, who had a meeting place at sea
here).
Ferries in the 1970s and 1980s
DSB
Helsingør
(so-called "sub-boat" with cafeteria under train and car decks)
Hälsingborg (so-called "submarine" that was not renamed "Helsingborg"
when the city got its Danish spelling back)
The naiad
Holger
Danish
The core
Kronborg
LB
Carol
Betula
Regulation
Ursula
Dana Scarlett (reserve under some years;
exterior built as Carola)
The health buses
Magdalene
Erasmus
Pernille
Yep
The rail freight traffic was moved to the DanLink connection in 1986
and it was decided to reschedule the ferry service so that all ferry
services were collected in the southern part of the harbor in order to
free up the entire area around Kronborg for the purpose of
reconstructing the old defense facilities. As a result, the southern
part of the harbor was expanded to the east, new areas were created for
cars to approach the ferries, and direct access from Helsingør station
to the ferries via a closed footbridge was built. A side effect of the
relocation of the ferry service was that a large part of the through
traffic inside the city to the ferry berths at Kronborg now disappeared.
At the same time, the Knutpoint was built in Helsingborg.
The
company Scandlines was formed and collected the old DSB and SFL ferries
and 2 new ferries - M/F Tycho Brahe and M/F Aurora af Helsingborg - were
ordered and the new ferry services were put into operation on 4 November
1991 together with 2 SFL -ferries and 2 DSB princess ferries. However,
M/F Aurora of Helsingborg was first put into operation in April 1992.
Later, the old ferries were phased out and replaced by the ferry M/S
Hamlet, which came into operation in 1997.
Until the 1990s, there
had also been a transfer of railcars between Helsingør and Helsingborg.
These passenger cars always stopped on the eastern track of Helsingør
station. Here the travelers from Denmark could board the wagons. On
departure, the carriages were locked, passport control went through the
carriages and checked the travellers, and the carriages were
subsequently pushed on board the ferry with a shunting locomotive. When
this happened, traffic on Havnevej was temporarily closed with barriers
and bells. In Helsingborg, the wagons were picked up on the ferry and
connected to the Swedish trains to Stockholm. A similar procedure took
place in the opposite direction. and passenger traffic was discontinued
with the opening of the Øresund connection in 2000.
Since the 1970s, there have been plans for a permanent connection, such as a tunnel to Helsingborg. The project is continuously examined by, among others, of Helsingborg Municipality and the Capital Region, and may affect local areas.
Elsinore attracts many large and small companies in these years,
as the city has opened up the sale of business land and focuses a
lot on business. Today, all kinds of companies settle in the city
and its surroundings (e.g. Siemens, Bavarian Nordic, Triumph, Peter
Beier Chokolade, Oticon, Lauritz.com and Coloplast; however, several
of those mentioned are not within the city limits). Nordsjælland's
Police headquarters is in Helsingør. Helsingør has several
entrepreneurs, e.g. within art, IT, and retail. Helsingør also
offers entrepreneurship courses for those interested. Elsinore's
actual industrial areas are located in the south-western part of the
city near Kongevejen, but are of modest size. The city's old
industries in the city center are now decommissioned.
People
in the Helsingør area do part of their shopping in Helsingør but
also in Helsingborg, also along the motorway to Copenhagen, for
example in Hørsholm Midtpunkt and in Lyngby Storcenter and not least
in Copenhagen. Nowadays, a lot is bought online. In contrast, the
competition is modest from Fredensborg, Hillerød and Helsinge.
Retail trade
As the third largest city in Zealand, the city
is full of specialty shops and many large chain stores (approx. 500
shops, from Helsingør south (Espergærde) to the tip of Helsingør
(Kronborg), which makes it the shopping center in North Zealand with
the most shops). Helsingør is a trading center for northernmost
Zealand and the Helsingborg area within many product groups, trading
life is dominated by the inhabitants of the surrounding area, by the
border trade with Sweden and by the many tourists from all over the
world who come to see Kronborg and the city. Elsinore's legendary
product is Brostræ ice cream.
Helsingør City Center
(partially rebuilt 2012), Prøvestencenteret (North Zealand's largest
center for space-consuming goods), Meretecenteret.
Planned
are the Gefions center (new 2016), the Borupgaard center + housing
(new 2017).
Helsingør has many offers for young and old: there are high
schools, business school, HTX, CPH Business Academy, SOPU training
(Aug. 2018), teacher training (Aug. 2019) Business School
Nordsjælland, University of Marine Biology, VUC, technical school,
Den Internationale Højskole and many offers for further education,
courses etc. e.g. at the vocational training school in management,
the University of Marine Biology Helsingør, the Swedish Emergency
Management Agency's Course Center, etc. HF & VUC is building a brand
new campus in the city of Helsingør which will be completed in
2019/20, and a site is being found for the location of a large
campus which will contain several different educations.
Because of the Øresund collaboration, you can use the Helsingborg
Campus, which is a university with 13 different fields of study at
either bachelor's or master's level, mainly within biology,
engineering, management and marketing. In addition, a large number
of shorter courses are also offered. The campus is only 5 km from
Helsingør, in Scania.
In Helsingør and its surroundings there are opportunities for golf,
football, handball, mountain biking, windsurfing, kitesurfing, sea
kayaking, squash, sailing, water polo, tennis, fencing, shooting,
martial arts and approx. five fitness centers. A large amount has just
been set aside for the renewal of the athletics station and there will
be a multi-park with parkour, an ice rink (winter), skateboarding and an
open-air stage (2010) at the Prøvesten center. Elsinore Rowing Club is
also located in Helsingør, which is the province's oldest rowing club
(founded in 1883).
Swimming pools and Wellness
Comwell,
Wellness, spa & Restaurant
Hotel Marienlyst, Wellness, swimming pool,
wave pool, Restaurant and Casino
Helsingør swimming pool, Swimming
pool, fitness center (talks about building a new huge swimming pool)
Helsingør therm, Lille Swimming pool for e.g. baby swimming, pregnant
training etc.
Helsingør Vandspejlet Wesselsvej 2, Lille Swimming Hall
for e.g. baby swimming, pregnant training etc.
Dietrich Buxtehude, composer, (1637–1707)
Christian de Meza,
general, (1792–1865)
H.C. Andersen, author (short period 1826-1827
Helsingør Latin School), (1805–1875)
Carl Wiibroe, founder of the
brewery Wiibroe, (1812–1888)
August Ferdinand Michael van Mehren,
Orientalist, (1822–1907)
Ludvig Lorenz, mathematician and physicist,
(1829-1891)
William Thalbitzer, Inuit researcher, (1873–1958)
Julius Thornberg, violinist, (1883-1945)
Jørn Utzon, architect (short
period 1937), (1918–2008)
Simon Spies, travel king, (1921–1984)
Ove Verner Hansen, opera singer and actor, (1932–2016)
Beatrice
Palner, actress, (1938–2013)
Erik Wedersøe, author, (1938−2011)
Carsten Bo Jensen, singer, politician, (1958–)
Mikkel Hansen,
handball player, (1987–)
Joachim Boldsen, handball player, (1978-)