Explore Kronborg Castle: The Real-Life Elsinore of Shakespeare's Hamlet

Immortalised as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Kronborg Castle is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. A real castle, and historical stronghold that sits in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Kronborg is as fascinating as it is beautiful.

Our guest this week is Laura Kiel, the Operations Coordinator at Kronborg Castle, where she plays a key role in caring for the castle's remarkable collection — from grand paintings and heavy antique cabinets to exquisite historical costumes. During her 12 years at Kronborg, Laura has also become the castle's in-house Hamlet expert, having taken part in coordinating many productions of Hamlet staged within the iconic setting of Kronborg itself.

Laura joins us today to take us inside Kronborg Castle to understand more about the history of the castle, why it was used in Shakespeare's play, and what was going on at Kronborg when Shakespeare staged his famous tragedy within it's gates.