Elsinore

Sister cities

• Harstad Municipality
• Sanremo
• Gdańsk
• Lake Elsinore
• Uummannaq
• Umeå Municipality
• Helsingborg Municipality
• Rueil-Malmaison
• Vaasa

History

The city as it is known today was founded in the 1420s by Danish King Eric of Pomerania. He established the Sound Dues in 1429, which were a toll on the use of the Øresund. Although a different toll had existed before this one, the Sound Dues were paid in Helsingør, providing immense wealth to the city. With that income, the king built a castle named Krogen or Ørekrog on the extreme northeastern tip of the island of Zealand. The city expanded around the castle and envelops it today. Krogen was rebuilt and expanded in the 1570s by king Frederik II and renamed Kronborg. All ships had to stop in Helsingør to get their cargo taxed and pay a toll to the Danish Crown, which generated a significant income to the city, which in turn generated trade. The city's growing wealth further fuelled the growth of maritime transport through the Øresund Strait - from 1479 to 1581 the number of ships passing through the strait increased 6.5 times. In 1672, Helsingør had grown to be the third-largest town in Denmark. Up until the middle of the 19th century, Helsingør was among the largest cities in the country. The Sound Dues were abolished in 1857 with the Copenhagen Convention in which all seafaring nations agreed to pay a one-time fee. The abolishment was a huge loss for the city and the following decades saw a slow growth in population. The oldest known fortified building of Helsingør is Flynderborg, an early medieval fortress on a hill just south of the medieval city. Around 1200, the first church, Saint Olaf's 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. The oldest parts of the cathedral of Helsingør date back to the 13th century and show that the fishing…

Most-observed species

• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,511
• Red Kite

  Milvus milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,535
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,629
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,361
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,337
• Common Chiffchaff

  Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  10,127
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  9,401
• Great Spotted Woodpecker

  Dendrocopos major (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,054

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2026-05-20
  7 km WSW of Bjæverskov, Denmark
• M 4.2 — 2012-08-06
  39 km WSW of Steninge, Sweden
• M 4.3 — 2008-12-16
  7 km NW of Skurup, Sweden
• M 2.8 — 2005-03-03
  29 km E of Ebeltoft, Denmark
• M 3 — 2005-02-03
  29 km NNW of Nykøbing Sjælland, Denmark
• M 3 — 2005-02-03
  32 km E of Ebeltoft, Denmark