[5] Helsingborg is the central urban area of northwestern Scania and Sweden's closest point to Denmark: the Danish city Helsingør is clearly visible about 4 km (2.5 mi) to the west on the other side of the Øresund.

[6] Helsingborg's geographical position at the narrowest part of Øresund made it very important for Denmark, at that time controlling both sides of that strait.

[citation needed]Following the Dano-Swedish War (1657–1658) and the Treaty of Roskilde Denmark had to give up all territory on the southern Scandinavian peninsula, and Helsingborg became part of Sweden.

[8] On 20 October 1811, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and crown prince-elect of Sweden (later King Charles XIV John) took his first step on Swedish soil in Helsingborg on his journey from Paris to Stockholm.

[9] From the middle of the 19th century onwards, Helsingborg was one of the fastest-growing cities of Sweden, increasing its population from 4,000 in 1850 to 20,000 in 1890 and 56,000 in 1930 due to industrialization.

[citation needed] From 1892, a train ferry was put in service, connecting Helsingborg with its Danish sister city Helsingør.

In World War II, Helsingborg was among the most important drop-off points for the rescue of Denmark's Jewish population during the Holocaust.

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 German maritime attaché received word of the order on 28 September 1943, he shared it with political and Jewish community leaders.

Using the name Elsinore Sewing Club (Danish: Helsingør Syklub) as a cover for messages, the Danish population formed an Underground Railroad of sorts, moving Jews away from the closely watched Copenhagen docks to spots farther away, especially Helsingør, just two miles across the Øresund from Helsingborg.

[10] Helsingborg has an oceanic climate (Cfb) typical of southern Sweden, although its winters are very mild for a location at such a high latitude.

In 2001 Campus Helsingborg, a branch of University of Lund, opened in the former Tretorn rubber factory buildings, founded by Henry Dunker.