Helsingør Municipality

Helsingør Municipality (a variant English name: Elsinore Municipality; Danish: Helsingør Kommune), is a municipality in the Capital Region on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 121.6 km², and has a total population of 63,953 (1. January 2025). Its mayor as of 1 January 2014 is Benedikte Kiær, a member of the Conservative political party.

Helsingør Municipality Helsingør Kommune (Danish) Elsinore Municipality
Municipality
Kronborg Castle in Helsingør Kommune
Coat of arms
Location in Denmark
Coordinates: 56°02′05″N 12°36′40″E
Country	Denmark
Region	Hovedstaden
Established	1 April 1970
Government
• Mayor	Benedikte Kiær
Area
• Total	121.6 km2 (47.0 sq mi)
Population  (1. January 2025)[1]
• Total	63,953
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Website	www.helsingor.dk

Locations

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the town of Helsingør.

Helsingør	47,000
Hellebæk	5,400
Hornbæk	3,600
Saunte	1,200
Kvistgård	1,100
Tikøb	710
Gurre	400
Langesø	290

Other towns and villages include

• Ålsgårde
• Espergærde
• Mørdrup
• Skotterup
• Snekkersten
• Stenstrup

To the east is the Øresund, the strait which separates Zealand from Sweden. To the north is the Kattegat.

Ferry service connects the municipality at the town of Helsingør east over the Øresund to the town of Helsingborg, Sweden. The European routes E47 and E55 traverse the two cities.

Helsingør municipality was not merged with other municipalities due to the nationwide Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007).

History

Main article: Elsinore

The town 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. Kronborg Castle, known internationally as the setting of William Shakespeare's theatre play Hamlet, is today the town's main tourist attraction.

Politics

Municipal council

Helsingør's municipal council consists of 25 members, elected every four years.

Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.

Election	Party								Total seats	Turnout	Elected mayor
	A	B	C	F	L	O	V	Ø
2005	8	1	9	2		1	3	1	25	66.0%	Per Tærsbøl (C)
2009	7		8	4	1	2	2	1		67.4%	Johannes Hect-Nielsen (V)
2013	6	1	9	1	1	3	2	2		73.8%	Benedikte Kiær (C)
2017	8	1	9	1	1	2	1	2		72.0%
Data from Kmdvalg.dk 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017

Economy

Local companies include the Noa Noa clothing company, Barslund, Bavarian Nordic and Peter Beier Chokolade.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Denmark

Helsingør is twinned with:^[2]

• Harstad, Norway
• Rueil-Malmaison, France^[3]
• Sanremo, Italy^[4]
• Umeå, Sweden
• Uummannaq, Greenland
• Vaasa, Finland

See also

• List of protected areas of Helsingør Municipality