Kronborg Castle at Helsingor 1950, Bing & Grondahl Christmas plate

1950 Bing & Grondahl Christmas plate, designed by Margrethe Hyldahl, is titled Kronborg Castle at Elsinore. Bing & Grondahl's Christmas Plate from 1950 depicts Kronborg Castle at Elsinore, on of the most outstanding European Renaissance catles, known to most of the world, because this is where Shakespeare's Hamlet takes place. Kronborg was given its name by King Frederik II in 1577, but its history goes as far back as 1430, when Eric of Pomerania, intro- duced duty on ships passing through Øresund,. For this purpose he built the castle " Krogen" from which he collected the very unpopular Øresund duty. From 1574 to 1584 Frederik II built Kron- borg, inspired by the European princes, for whom richnes and military strength were the symbols of power. 1629 the castle was ravaged by a fire, which only the church survived, and Christian IV rebuilt the castle and made modernisations in baroque style. In 1658 the castle was bombarded by the Swedes, who took away many of the art treasures from the castle. From 1783 to 1923 the castle was used by the military, and when the military left the place, Kronborg was renovated and restored to the state in which it was at the time of Frederik II and Christian IV. Kronborg is now open to the public, and one of its attractions is the statue of Holger Danske, who is sitting sleeping with his arms folded in the casemats. Myth has it that if Denmark is threatened by an outer enemy, Holger Danske will wake up to defend the country.