Helsingborg - The (also cultural) pearl of the Sound

The characteristic roof of the Dunker cultural center is easily recognizable from a long distance when you arrive e.g. by ferrry  from Denmark.

Helsingborg, the city located at the point where the strait between Sweden and Denmark is the narrowest, is often called the Pearl of the Sound, not without reason. What is maybe not so wellknown is that this city of 130.000 inhabitants also is a cultural "pearl".

There are not many cities of this size which can offer the same high quality cultural facilities and programs as Helsingborg.

The Helsingborg Concert Hall is a functionalistic masterpiece

The Helsingborg Concert Hall - the home of the internationally acclaimed Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra (HSO) - is  recognized as one of the best concert halls in northern Europe. The hall, which was inaugurated in 1932, was was designed by Sven Markelius, one Sweden´s foremost 20th century architects.

This year the HSO, with the British violonist and conductor Andrew Manze as its Principal Conductor and Artistic Director, celebrates its 100th anniversary. Manze and his orchestra celebrate the centenary with a much lauded box set containing the symphonies of Brahms:

This is a remarkable new Brahms cycle: one of the most fiery, original and thought-provoking sets of the symphonies to have appeared in the digital era and one that is infused by historically informed evidence, played on modern instruments… for a wholly stimulating alternative view of Brahms, Andrew Manze and his Helsingborg orchestra are inspiring -- IRR OUTSTANDING --International Record Review, April 2012

A much more recent cultural building is the Dunker culture center, which was inaugurated 10 years ago. The house, beautifully located on the seafront, was designed by the world famous Danish architect Kim Utzon. It offers excellent facilities for exhibitions and small scale music and theatre performances. The city tourist office is also located in the Dunker building.

Ingmar Bergman was once the manager of the Helsingborg City Theatre

Finally, among the city´s main cultural facilities, we have the Helsingborg City Theatre, offering oustanding theatre productions. The City Theatre, which was founded in 1921, is the oldest municipal theatre in Sweden. The new building is from 1976.

Among the previous theatre managers Ingmar Bergman is without doubt the internationally most wellknown:

Sweden's oldest city theatre decided to appoint the untested 26-year-old Ingmar Bergman as its new manager in 1944. Thus he became Sweden's youngest ever theatre head, and was given free hand to choose his staff. During the two seasons he held the position, the theatre was transformed from a forgotten provincial stage with tiny audiences to an institution of national repute playing to full houses.

"For me this was paradise on earth"
- Ingmar Bergman

There are, of course, a number of other interesting cultural venues in Helsingborg catering to a variety of cultural tastes.

Beautiful sculptures are part of Helsingborg´s cultural ambiance