Helsingborg - Swedish Port on the Øresund

in #photography6 years ago (edited)

Church of St. Mary - S:ta Maria kyrka stained-glass window
Modern stained-glass in Helsingborg's Church of St. Mary. Note the Sphinx and Eiffel Tower near the bottom.

Sweden's Gothic Fourth City

For our sins, our first stop was church. Sta. Maria Kyrka is not the cathedral I was expecting in such a large city, but a relatively small church in Danish Gothic style. It dates from the 1300s but took a thousand years to finish. The contents span its entire history from medieval graves, to the delicately carved pulpit from 1615, to the imposing organ built in 1959, to the modern stained-glass windows designed by noted artists.

Church of St. Mary - S:ta Maria kyrka interior
The interior of the Church of St. Mary including a medieval grave and the Renaissance pulpit

The Organ in Church of St. Mary in Helsingborg
The Marcussen Organ at the St. Mary Church, built in 1959

All that religion made us thirsty for a beer. We found a lovely walking street with plenty of options. Before deciding on a cafe, we came across a castle. A more modern castle-like construction formed a decorative gateway to the real medieval fortress beyond. Past the fountains, terraces, and arches was the brutally simple Kärnan tower.

Kärnan tower in Helsingborg
This fairy tale fortress, in the center of Helsingborg leading to the famous medieval Kärnan tower, visible in the background

Helsingborg high street Helsingborg's pedestrian high street enticed us to see what lay just further along

Returning to the seafront, we were transfixed by the sight of the car ferry opening it's bow door, as it entered the harbor at a surprising rate of speed. I later learned that there are over 70 car ferry departures from this port every day. The "HH route" connects Helsingborg to its Danish sister city of Helsingør, Shakespeare's Elsinore, home of Hamlet's castle. The double-ended ferries never have to turn around, theoretically having a Swedish end and a Danish end.

Helsingborg harbor causeway

Car ferryA double-ended Scandlines car ferry approaches the car port with its bow door already open.

Public restroom My friend Alan approaches the prettiest public toilet I've ever seen. A button causes the mirrored door to open

Helsingborg City Hall The Radhuset (Helsingborg City Hall)

There was more to see in what was one of Sweden's oldest cities, but I had a train to catch. My friends and I said our farewells and they dropped me at the station. I bought a ticket and descended to the platform. In less than an hour and half, I would be arriving in Copenhagen.


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Norway & Svalbard

All of the content in my posts is original and the photos are Copyright © Nick Kraft.

I was traveling light. These images were taken with a small Samsung point-and-shoot camera or a smartphone!

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Nick

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the Modern stained-glass in Helsingborg's Church of St. Mary is really beautiful. And yes, there's the Eiffel Tower near the bottom!
by the way, this shape is really special.

I wonder what the original windows were like...

Sweden is my dream country. Your Photos is stunning and full of soul and story.

Thank you, Rio! Check out the links at the bottom of my post for more Swedish dreams.

Great pictures of lovely Sweden! Sad that I may never get to visit your beautiful country.

I missed this earlier, @mrshev - so sorry. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. Never give up hope! Sweden awaits.

Thanky @nkraft for your kind words. Looking forward to seeing the world through your amazing photos. Cheers!

Really looks like worth a visit! Thanks for sharing with this post. Always great to get some inspiration where to travel next. :)

Hi Stefan! Yes! Helsingborg is close to Malmo and Copenhagen. If you get this far, I highly recommend: Mölle Swedish Gem by the Sea. Thanks.

Stained glass, organ and your story about beer reminded me of the Czech Republic )))
Write how things are in Copenhagen, my friend lives there ...

Hello @marymik23! I've been to Hungary but have yet to visit the Czech Republic. And I was just reading a book set in Prague! Copenhagen - check.

In the Czech Republic, the best dark beer and red stewed cabbage )))
Tell us about Copenhagen in the post, we think to visit this city.

Да, мэм! ;) Copenhagen is next but I won't be posting as often for a bit.

Да мэм? ))) do you speak russian?

Я не говорю по-русски. I studied Russian for 10 weeks over 30 years ago. I only remember a few things like, добрый день товарищ and один два три четыре. Google Translate is my friend today.

You have mastered half of the Russian language! )))))
Google Translate rescues my humble English )

Haha! Excellent. It is part of my heritage. My great great grandfather was a Russian who came to Alaska, where I was born. My father learned Russian from the Orthodox priests there but did not pass it on to me.

take me to church ☺ thanks for posting this..

Haha. Thank you!

So interesting to see this again! I'm Danish and lived not far from Helsingør across the water as a kid and young man... I remember going with my parents on the ferry to Helsingborg because we could buy cheap coffee and salami in Sweden, compared to Danish prices... this was around 1970-75.

Nice photos and story!

How cool! I was amazed there was so much ferry traffic between Sweden and Denmark but later saw how entire trains are shared across the border. Thank you!

Thanks for sharing info about your photo's, hope to see St. Mary church personally.

You're welcome! I hope you get to see it, also. Thanks.

Wow, truly beautiful. And yes even the washroom is worth taking a picture of.

Thanks, Lee! You know you're in Scandinavia when even the washrooms are photogenic. We weren't sure how to get into that mirrored cube at first. What do they say is the mother of invention? :)

Wow! The architecture there is so diverse and detailed. Would love to go there some day and see what pictures I can get there. Thank you for sharing this!

I agree, Mike. I only had a few hours to explore this very old city. The pedestrian street image shows three buildings, each from a distinct period.

Only a few hours, man well I bet you made the most of it :)