Helsinge, Denmark

The central carr in Helsinge.

Helsinge is the municipal seat of Gribskov municipality in Region Hovedstaden on Zealand in Denmark with a population of 8,051 (1 January 2014).[1]

The town was years ago elected the ugliest town in Denmark by a journalist from national television, Peter Olesen, which is why among its inhabitants it has the popular name Hæslinge (Hæslig=ugly). Recently a great wall was built as a kind of town portal, but that has got the nickname the Berlin Wall, because it divides the space in an unfortunate way.

In early 19th century Helsinge was as small as the nearby villages, but it had an inn and a church and the vicar had another parish under him, Valby. Through the 19th century Helsinge grew. In 1840 23% of the 1258 inhabitants in the parish lived in the city, but in 1901 the percentage was 43% of 1647. In the meantime the town had got among other things both a judge (1848), a doctor (1859), a post office (1863), telegraphy (1872) and a railroad (1897).

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Helsinge is twinned with:

Sources

  1. ↑ BEF44: Population 1st January, by urban areas database from Statistics Denmark
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helsinge (Gribskov Kommune).

Coordinates: 56°01′N 12°11′E / 56.017°N 12.183°E