Helsingør (/ˌhɛlsɪŋˈɜːr/ HEL-sing-UR,[3][4][5] Danish: [helse̝ŋˈøɐ̯ˀ]; Swedish: Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore (/ˈɛlsɪnɔːr, ˌɛlsɪˈnɔːr/ EL-sin-or, -⁠OR),[6] is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark.

[9] The first part of the name, Hels, is believed to derive from the word hals 'neck; narrow strait', referring to the narrowest point of the Øresund (Øre Sound) between what is now Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden.

The word Helsing supposedly means 'person/people who live by the neck' and ør corresponds to old Norse aurr 'gravel beach' and eyrr 'sandy or gravelly shore'.

The city was first mentioned as Hælsingør and the people as Helsinger in King Valdemar the Victorious's Liber Census Daniæ from 1231 (not to be confused with the Helsings of Hälsingland in Sweden).

Also Helsinki in Finland and Hälsingland in Norrland, Sweden, refers to Helsing, as "the Land of the Helsing/Helsinger," which makes the landscape theory of the name of Helsingør less likely.

With the income, the king built a castle named Krogen or Ørekrog on the extreme northeastern tip of the island of Zealand.

All ships had to stop in Helsingør to get their cargo taxed and pay a toll to the Danish Crown, which generated a significant trade for the city.

Adolf Hitler had ordered that all Danish Jews were to be arrested and deported to the concentration camps on Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, which fell on 2 October 1943.

When Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz, a diplomatic attaché of Nazi Germany to Denmark, received word of the order on 28 September 1943, he shared it with political and Jewish community leaders.

Apart from Helsingør Station and Ferry Terminal also Snekkersten, Espergærde, Mørdrup and the train stops on the line to Gilleleje, Grønnehave, Marienlyst and Højstrup.

[16][17] For a century the Helsingør Værft or Elsinore shipyard was a prominent landmark, which covered the whole area between the town and Kronborg Castle.

There is a longstanding tradition of performing the play in English, and notable actors in the title role have included Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Christopher Plummer, Derek Jacobi, and in 2009 Jude Law.

In the centre of the harbour basin stands the polished steel sculpture Han (He) by artist duo Elmgreen and Dragset, commissioned by the City of Helsingør in 2012.

It is seen as the counterpart (and even little brother) to Edvard Eriksen's world-famous The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, and has caused both praise and protests among locals.