Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
elaborate gold jewellery and medals became entangled in the embrace. The original
wall and ceiling frescoes were deemed too costly to restore and were painted over in
1968, though have now been uncovered.
5
Dunkers Kulturhus
Kungsgatan 11 • Tues-Sun 10am-5pm, Thurs until 8pm • Exhibitions 70kr; otherwise free • W dunkerskulturhus.se
Crossing over the road towards the Kattegat from the Magnus Stenbock statue, you'll
see the harbour , divided in two by the new bridge to the pier. To the north of the
bridge is the exceptional city museum, Dunkers Kulturhus . The white-brick building
contains a first-rate museum exploring the city's history. The centre is named after
Henry Dunker, a local man and pioneer of galoshes - he developed the process for
keeping rubber soft in winter and non-sticky in summer and his brand, Tretorn,
became a world leader until the factories closed in 1979. When he died in 1962, he left
58 million kronor to set up a foundation and this museum is a major recipient. If you're
expecting traditional exhibitions, its dramatic special sound effects and lighting
certainly come as a surprise. The history of Helsingborg, with water as the theme, from
Ice Age to present day is tremendous fun, though there's no explanation in any
language so it's more sensory than educational; the coverage of the town's social,
economic and military history has far more explanation in English. There are also some
galleries showing temporary art exhibitions year round. The museum contains a fine
restaurant , overlooking the Öresund, and a bistro serving light meals.
The kärnan and around
Keep • Slottshagsgatan • Daily: April, May & Sept Tues-Fri 9am-4pm, Sat & Sun 11am-4pm; June-Aug daily 11am-7pm; Oct-March
Tues-Sun 11am-3pm • 40kr
Returning to the bottom of Stortorget - the central “square”, so elongated that it's
more like a boulevard - it's a short stroll upwards to the steps leading to the remains of
the medieval castle , dominated by the massive castellated bulk of the kärnan ,
surrounded by some fine parkland. The keep and Sancta Maria kyrka (see below) were
the sole survivors of the ravages of war, but the former lost its military significance once
Sweden finally won the day. It was due for demolition in the mid-nineteenth century,
only surviving because seafarers found it a valuable landmark. What cannon fire failed
to achieve, however, neglect and the weather succeeded in bringing about: the keep was
a ruin when restoration began in 1894. It looks like a huge brick stood on end and is
worth climbing today more for the views than the scant historical exhibitions within.
Sancta Maria kyrka
Mariatorget • Mon-Fri 8am-4pm, Sat & Sun 9am-4pm
From the parkland at the keep's base, it's just a few steps to a charming rose and
magnolia garden , exuding scent and colour all summer. To the side of this, you can
wander down a rhododendron-edged path, Hallbergs Trappor, to the Sancta Maria
kyrka , which squats in its own square by a very French-looking avenue of beech trees.
Resembling a basilica, and Danish Gothic in style, the church was begun in 1300 and
completed a century later. Its rather plain facade belies a striking interior, with a clever
contrast between the early seventeenth-century Renaissance-style ornamentation of its
pulpit and gilded reredos, and the jewel-like contemporary stained-glass windows.
Norra and Södra Storgatan
Walking back to Stortorget from the church, you arrive at Norra and Södra Storgatan
(the streets that meet at the foot of the stairs to the kärnan ), which comprised
Helsingborg's main thoroughfare in medieval times and so are lined with the oldest of
the town's merchants' houses. As you head up Norra Storgatan, the 1681 Henckelska
 
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