Elsinore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This page is about the town also named Helsingør, in Denmark. For other places called Elsinore, see Elsinore (disambiguation).
Helsingør [hɛlseˈŋøɐ̯ˀ], also known by its English name Elsinore, is a city in Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. It is known internationally as the setting of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, where the spelling 'Elsinore' originated.
The name is derived from *Hals meaning "neck" and thus here also "narrow strait", i.e. the narrow strait (Øresund) between what is now Helsingør and Helsingborg. 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, for the first time in King Valdemar the Victorious's book from 1231 (but they should not be confused with the Helsings of Hälsingland in Sweden). These two placenames show that the Helsinger may have had their main fort at Helsingborg 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, including women. About 1200 AD the first church, Sct Olai Church, was built. 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.
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 made bigger in the 1580s and named Kronborg. 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.
Kronborg Castle is a main tourist attraction. Hamlet has been performed a number of times in its courtyard.
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 ends. There is also now a bridge over the other end of the Øresund.
[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
[edit] See also
- Aalsgaarde
- EGMUN, a Model United Nations conference annually held in Espergærde and with an opening reception at Helsingør Town Hall.
- Tourism in Denmark
[edit] External links
- Helsingør Tourist Bureau website
- Port of Helsingør
- Helsingør municipality's official website (in Danish only)
- Photos
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
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