Right here on your left, you’re looking at what locals call the HD House - though honestly, it was making headlines before “HD” meant “high definition.” Back in 1930, Helsingborgs Dagblad, the city’s beloved newspaper, wanted a headquarters as modern as their journalism. So they hired a homegrown star, Gustav W. Widmark, a man who made “understated” almost fashionable.
At first, Widmark planned just another classy building with old-school charm. But the times were changing. As each sketch was revised, the frills disappeared, leaving a stripped-down, snow-white five-story beauty: long stripes of windows, clean lines, and a ground floor so glassy and high you could practically see tomorrow’s headlines rolling off the presses. If you’d wandered by back in the day, you’d have seen journalists tapping away above, the printshop buzzing below, and up on the roof? A restaurant and dancehall where the city’s movers and shakers mingled, probably with their hair still smelling of printer’s ink.
As decades rolled by, the building got a few “facelifts”-not always for the better. The floating, airy ground floor was chopped up with steel supports. Elegant window bands shrank, patched up with painted metal. The original spirit faded... but in 2008, they tried to win some of it back, painting those modern updates black to give the old design a little more punch. Like an old editor in new glasses.
Now, the presses have moved, and you’ll find shops below and offices above…but the building still hints at its glory days as Helsingborg’s news nerve center.
Take a breath, then stroll southwest for about 4 minutes and we’ll meet at Sundstorget.
