In Hamlet, what is the name of the Danish royal castle?

In Hamlet, the Danish royal castle is Elsinore. Shakespeare uses “Elsinore” as the English form of Helsingør, the Danish town where the castle stands. The play opens on the castle battlements, where guards and Horatio encounter the ghost of Hamlet's dead father, establishing the setting as a place of political anxiety and supernatural disturbance.

Elsinore is closely associated with Kronborg Castle, a real Renaissance fortress on the northeastern tip of Zealand, beside the Øresund strait. Shakespeare's play does not function as a precise architectural tour of Kronborg, but the castle provides the historical and geographical backdrop for the royal court ruled by Claudius.

A common mix-up is Kronborg versus Elsinore. Kronborg is the castle's real Danish name; Elsinore is the name used in the play for the surrounding town and royal setting. Wittenberg, where Hamlet studies, is a university town in Germany, while Venice belongs to the setting of Othello. The castle's isolated battlements, guarded entrances, and courtly interiors reinforce the play's themes of surveillance, secrecy, and uncertainty.