Kronberg Castle
Helsingor, Denmark
Visiting the inspiration for the home of Hamlet sounded good to us. We’ve all heard of this famous Shakespeare character - the Prince of Denmark. Well Hamlet lived in Elsinore Castle and the inspiration for this was supposed to be here at Helsingor. The names do sound very similar.
Back in the 1420’s King Eric VII built Krogen here. This, along with several other constructions, was designed to get and keep control of the entrance to the Baltic Sea. Later on in the late 1500’s, King Frederick II renovated it into a Renaissance castle that was stunning.
There was a fire in the early 1600’s that destroyed a lot of the castle but it was subsequently rebuilt. The Swedes invaded and captured Kronberg castle in 1658 and removed most of the valuables. The castle ceased being used by the royalty in 1785. It was eventually used as an army barracks until 1923. Later on it was rejuvenated and re-opened for visitors.
You’d expect a grand ballroom in a castle like this, and you’d be right. At 62 x 12 metres it’s a big one too - in fact it was the largest in Europe for a while. It’s adorned with some amazing artwork too, but then there’s so much art all around the castle.
We’ve already mentioned that Kronborg Castle is also known as Elsinore from Hamlet. The connections are more than just the name similarities of Helsingor and Elsinore. Hamlet was the Prince of Denmark too after all.
Needless to say, the paly Hamlet has been performed quite a few times here at Kronberg Castle. There have been some pretty famous people on stage here too - Sir Laurence Olivier, David tennant, Derek Jacobi, Sir John Gielgud, Christopher Plummer and Jude Law.
Like all castles used by royalty tghere are royal chambers. The King's Chamber is spectacular with paintings on the ceiling and rich furnishings. It has a magnificent bay window with great views.
If you secretly long for those old dimly lit stone walled corridors with rock flooring then you also won’t be disappointed. There are plenty of these down under the castle. We had a good wander around. There aren’t many restricted areas either, especially in the cellar.
We spent a very full half day wandering around Kronberg Castle and loved it. There re so many different areas to explore, from underneath, the ballroom and bedrooms and even on top. It’s an interesting place and worth travelling there. We simply caught the train from Copenhagen. It was very easy and the station was only a short walk away from the castle.