Every design for Helsingborg

At Pålsjö slott, a little north of the centre, you quickly feel what makes Helsingborg special: the nearness of the water and of Denmark on the other side. The town lies exactly where Öresund narrows most – only a few thousand metres separate the quay from Helsingør, and you can see clearly across to the neighbouring country. It is a position that has shaped everything, from the trade to the view.

The town centre carries traces of a long history. Gamlegård and Jacob Hansens hus are among the older buildings, the Henckelska gården speaks of times past, and the Rådhuset rises in the middle of the bustle. If you want to get out into the green there is Fredriksdal manor, where town meets park and cultivated land. Helsingborg is the second largest town in Skåne and the ninth largest in the country, but for all its size the sound is always in view.

A map like this catches the borderland where Sweden looks towards Denmark. For anyone who has walked the quay below Pålsjö slott, or watched the sun sink behind Helsingør, the design is more than geography – it is a reminder of a town that lives between two countries.