Gurre is a village located five kilometres west of

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

and 42 kilometres north of central

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It is located on the east side of Gurre Lake and is almost surrounded by woodland. As of 1 January 2024, its population was 405. It is most known for the ruin of

Gurre Castle Gurre Castle () was a royal castle situated in North Zealand, Denmark. Its ruins lie on the outskirts of Helsingør, close to the town of Tikøb on lake Gurre Sø at Gurre, Denmark, Gurre. The ruins have been excavated and are now restored. His ...

History

A settlement developed outside the

, probably some time during the beginning of the 14th century since the locality is referred to as Gurffue ("Gurre houses") in 1336. In 1361, King

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag, Valdemar Christoffersen or Waldemar (24 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance wars under previous rul ...

asked for permission the establish St. Jacob's Chapel outside the castle. The current village emerged at a site just east of the castle after it was abandoned and fell into neglect in the years after the Reformation. In 1791, it consisted of six farm and four other houses. Gurre School was built in 1821 and transferred to the civil parish of Tikøb in 1842.

Landmarks

Gurre Church is from 1918 and was designed y Carl Brummer. Gurre parish was not disjoined from Tikøb parish until 2010. Gurrehus traces its name back to the 16th century and was from 1713 home to the local forester. The estate was owned by the crown until 1779. Later owners include

Prince George of Greece Prince George of Greece and Denmark (; 24 June 1869 – 25 November 1957) was the second son and child of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, and is remembered chiefly for having once saved the life of his cousin the future E ...

who expanded and adapted the house with the assistance of the architect Gotfred Tvede. Located across the street from Gurrehus, Valdemarslund is from the 1800s and has also served as residence for the forester. It consists of three detached wings and a small half-timbered building in the garden. The main wing was extended in about 1850. The complex was listed in 1982. The country estate Ørsholt is today owned by Peter Beier, a well-known Danish

chocolatier A chocolatier ( ; ; ) is a person or company that makes and sells chocolate confections. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other raw ingredients. Chocolatiers work artisanally with pre- ...

, who runs his company from the premises.

Surroundings

The village of Gurre is almost completely surrounded by the small woods Nyrup Hegn, Teglstrup Hegn, Horserød Hegn, Gurre Vang and Krogenberg Hegn. Gurre Lake has a highly irregular shape, a total area of 2.4 km² and a depth of 2–5.5 metres. Originally a very clear-watered oligotroph lake, it now suffers from severe eutrophication.

Bibliography

* Vivian Etting, Lone Hvass, Charlotte Boje Andersen: ''Gurre slot: kongeborg og sagnskat''. 2003. * Ditlevsen, Stephen (editor): ''Gurre''. Forsvarets Center for Lederskab, Gurrehus. 1992. Pages 7-20: Lars Bjørn Madsen: ''Lidt om landsbyen Gurre''.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Gurre
girre.dk

History and images
Helsingør Municipality Villages in Denmark