Denmark: Helsingør – Kronborg Castle
Kronborg Castle has existed at Helsingør (Elsinore) since 1420. It’s been burned to the ground and rebuilt since, but always maintained its vital position at the head of the Øresund Sound. This is the actual castle that Shakespeare set Hamlet in.
This was the last day of our tour of Denmark, and we were headed on a ferry from the Danish town of Helsingor to Sweden. Before leaving I had planned for us to visit Kronborg Castle, which was conveniently located in Helsingor close to the ferry port.
The History of Kronborg
The name Helsingør has been believed to be derived from the word ‘hals’ meaning “neck” or “narrow strait,” referring to the narrowest point of the Øresund (Øre Sound) between what is now Helsingør and Helsingborg. Helsingør is classically known to the English as Elsinore. Here on a prominent point overlooking the Øresund sits Kronborg Castle.
Kronborg Castle dates to 1420 when Eric of Pomerania built Krogen, a fortress that was to control the entrance to Oresund and collect the lucrative Sound Dues from the passing ships. The Sound dues played an important role in Elsinore for more than 400 years. While the money went to the King, the trade, in connection with the Sound dues, made the town wealthy and famous all over the world.
Between 1574 and 1585, Frederik II built the sumptuous Renaissance castle, Kronborg Castle, as a strong symbol of wealth and power. The Sound dues financed the towers and steeples, copper roofs, and sandstone ornaments. During the great period of Kronborg Castle in the late 16th century, sailors, businessmen, diplomats and aristocrats spoke of the magnificent castle and court in Elsinore with its pomp and splendour.
Kronborg Castle was ravaged by a devastating fire in 1629 which only left the chapel intact.
Christian IV reconstructed the castle with extensive new Baroque decorations.
Unfortunately, for Kronborg and Denmark, the Swedes invaded in 1658 and plundered the castle, removing many of its treasures. For the next three hundred years, Kronborg was only used as a fortress and barracks for the Danish army.
The castle became famous fast because of the grandiose architecture and the wild nights at the court.
Kronborg was so famous in the 16th Century that the English playwright William Shakespeare – even though he never set foot on the castle – heard about the life of the royal court. Actors from his troupe in London had performed at Kronborg, telling Shakespeare about life at the court and they would have seen the monumental 62-metre Dance Hall with its King Tapestries – 40 massive tapestries depicting 100 both real and mythical kings of Denmark. One of these mythical kings looking down from the walls was Prince Amleth. The tale of Prince Amleth ended up laying the foundation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and his rotten kingdom of Denmark.
Today, Kronborg is often referred to as Hamlet’s Castle.
We entered the Castle’s outer walls into an area called the Kronværket, a small town of old military buildings and barracks.
Parts of Kronborg were covered in scaffolding as major renovation work was underway to maintain the castle for future generations. But this could not take away from its magnificence
To get into the main castle you have to cross over the drawbridge and into the courtyard. The courtyard is surrounded by four wings, made from sandstone with magnificent carvings rendered into the stone.
There was a lot of activity, and it took a few moments for us to work out what was going on. After a short deliberation, we decided to head to the Royal apartments.
Inside the castle, the rooms are light and airy, with large windows. This is not a cold and damp medieval castle or a lavish Baroque castle, it is a simple, typically Scandinavian Renaissance building with wooden floors and clean lines.
The rooms are not overly decorated, and as much of the original furnishing has been removed and lost, what is here today are reproductions. That said it still looks great. As you walk through the rooms you will likely bump into one of the staff in period costumes who will be in role-play mode rather than being a tour guide. This helps entertain the visitors, especially the kids who are mostly bored and have been dragged here by their parents.
The last room on this part of the tour is the Great Hall (the banqueting hall) which is 62m long, with impressive tiled floors and is one of the most exquisite rooms from this time – and the largest of its kind in Northern Europe..
From the Royal Apartments, we headed to the casemates a series of underground passages beneath the castle. It is cold and damp down in the casemates and it would be easy to get lost down here if there were no arrows showing you the way! It is definitely creepy down there, even when it is filled with noisy tourists.
The casemates were built in 1574-76 when the medieval fortress Krogen (literally “The Hook”) was rebuilt into the Renaissance castle of Kronborg. It was a place where the soldiers could hide to protect themselves from invaders. Soldiers were able to barricade themselves inside the casemates for weeks. They had room for horses and soldiers and there were provisions to feed 350 men for up to six weeks.
The casemates are also home to the statue of Holger Danske, a national hero asleep, deep down in the underground passages of the castle’s casemates. He has slept for hundreds of years. According to an old legend, Holger Danske will wake up the day Denmark is threatened by enemies. Only then will his eyes open. He will then get to his feet and raise his sword.
Before leaving Kronborg, we visited the castle’s chapel. The chapel isn’t especially large, and it’s not ornate by the standards of other European churches, but it has its charms. It’s also one of the oldest parts of the castle. It dates back to 1582 and survived a major fire in 1629 that claimed much of the rest of the castle.
We exited the castle which takes you around the outside of the walls. From here you can walk right to the edge of the sea and appreciate the vantage point that Kronborg had on the narrow channel between Denmark and Sweden.
We’d had a great time visiting Kronborg. Whilst it is a large castle only a relatively small part is open to the public so it didn’t take us more than 90-minutes to explore. You can climb to the top of the towers for an extra fee which would give you a great perspective of the courtyard from above and the surrounding area.
Planning your visit to Kronborg Castle
BY FERRY
More than seven million passengers make the annual trip across the water between Elsinore and Helsingborg in Sweden. Two ferry companies operate on the route, ForSea and Sundbusserne.
ForSea has three departures an hour to Elsinore. Sundbusserne has one departure an hour. During the summer, Sundbusserne also operates between Elsinore and Hven, as well as three daily departures from Copenhagen to Elsinore. It is free to take bicycles on board the ferries.
BY TRAIN
Elsinore is 40 minutes from Copenhagen. You can get to Elsinore by train via The Coast Line (Kystbanen) from Copenhagen Central Station, Nørreport, or Østerport, the three biggest train stations in Copenhagen. The train arrives and departs from Elsinore four times an hour, and the journey from Copenhagen Airport takes one hour.
BY CAR
Elsinore is easy to reach from Copenhagen via the E47 motorway. The trip from Copenhagen takes around 40 minutes depending on traffic.
There are 1,900 free parking spaces in the city of Elsinore. You can check the parking options by downloading the app “Parkering i Helsingør” on iOS and Android.
The best time to visit Denmark
Denmark has a predominantly humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb). About one-fifth of the southern Jutland Peninsula displays a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb). Denmark is a Nordic and Scandinavian country in Northern Europe, to the southwest of Sweden and south of Norway. The only land borders are with Germany in the south. The North and Baltic Seas share maritime borders with the country, along with its numerous offshore islands. The northern temperate latitudes and proximity to vast bodies of water mainly influence the climate.
Denmark lies in the temperate zone between 54°N and 57°N. The Nordic country consists of the Jutland Peninsula and more than 443 named islands. The landscape is mostly flat, with an average elevation of 31 meters above sea level. Mollehoj in the Ejerbjerge hills is the highest natural point in Denmark at a mere altitude of 170 meters. Rolling plains form a chunk of the terrain, along with sandy coastlines and large dunes. Odense, Gudena, Susa, Skerjn, and Vida are important rivers that flow across the country. The largest lake is Lake Arreso, with an area of 15.39 square miles. The area of inland water is 270 square miles. The coastline is 1057 miles long, excluding the shorelines of the numerous offshore islands. Any location in the country is at a maximum distance of 32 miles from the coast. The Kingdom of Denmark includes Greenland and Faroe Islands.
The best time to visit Denmark
The best time to visit Denmark is between June and August in the summer. Copenhagen temperatures are in the range of 12.2°C to 22.2°C, and it is generally warm everywhere. The nights tend to be cool, even though the days are occasionally hot. Early summer in June is cooler and drier than the later part of the season. Rainfall frequently occurs for short periods. The daily sunshine lasts above 8 hours in the summer, but the peak of 8.5 hours occurs in late spring in May. The average seawater temperatures of the North Sea are in the acceptable range of 16.1°C to 18.3°C. Summer is the time to experience the famous Nordic white nights, particularly during the middle part of July. Early autumn has comfortable weather, with bright colours over the landscape.
The worst time to visit Denmark
The worst time to visit Denmark is during the severe winter from December to February. The nights are frigid, and even the days are cold and dark. Temperature variations are little, with strong winds, especially in the north. The daily sunshine is feeble and hardly lasts for 1.5 hours in most regions. The daylight lasts for less than 7.5 hours in December and January, and the skies are often cloudy. The precipitation is moderate in frequent short bursts. The average seawater temperatures register below a dangerously cold 2.2°C. Moderate snowfall occurs for 5 days to 8 days during each month in the winter.
