Unesco World Heritage Site since 2000, the Kronborg Castle in Elsinore was built in the sixteenth century as a garrison for the channel Sound, which separates Denmark from Sweden. In the 600s the structure underwent major changes in order to adapt the military needs of the time but then remained unchanged until today. The goal was 200,000 visitors each year; the castle is considered the most important Renaissance fortress in northern Europe. In this castle, which is overlooking a small peninsula flat embellished with large gardens was set Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
The beauty of the castle and its transformation from a medieval fortress and Renaissance manor was due to taxes in 1429 and Eric of Pomerania decided to require that ships that passed by that channel to pay them because it seems that non-payment of duty entailed the shelling of the boats from Elsinore and Helsingborg.
Among the things to see that are there apart from the castle, as well as interactive exhibits and reconstructions of the activities that took place there, there are the bunkers where soldiers remained repaired during off sieges and battles, the collection of tapestries, the statue of the mythological Holger Danske , the chapel and the tower of the telegraph.
The Kronborg Castle is open from 11:00 to 16:00 (in summer from 10.30 to 17.30) and tickets cost € 10 per person for the full tour and € 4 for the reduced price.
By Elsi H
Photos: Benjamin Asmussen, BumbyFoto, AragornDK, Jens H. Christensen
