Elsenor / Ripen. Helsingør (Sjaelland) & Ribe (Jutland).

A fine antique engraving with two panoramic views by Braun and Hogenberg on one sheet: Helsingør (Sjaelland) & Ribe (Jutland), from Braun G. & Hogenberg F. Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Vol.5, 1596.
HELSINGØR. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "In the direction of the sea stands a well-fortified, impregnable castle called the Kronborg, where all the goods that are exported from the country are checked. Anyone who infringes this immediately forfeits his life, and all goods, however worthless they may be, pass into the royal state treasury.
All the ships that pass through this strait, whatever their course, must lower their sails and pay the royal customs officials the stipulated toll."
The town of Helsingør - formerly anglicised as Elsinore - is seen from the east across the Øresund; prominent on the right is the Kronborg toll station. A number of windmills can be seen on the hills behind the city:
By the Middle Ages Helsingør was already an established marketplace and in 1200 saw the foundation of St Olaf's church, today a cathedral. From the 1420s the city expanded under Erik VII of Pomerania, king of Denmark.
It was he who built Krogen castle (1429), subsequently enlarged by Frederick II in 1574-1585 and renamed the Kronborg. Helsingør lies on the northeast coast of the Danish island of Zealand, at the narrowest point of the Øresund, opposite the Swedish city of Helsingborg.

RIBE. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "If one were to look closely at the city's internal layout, one might easily call it Tripolis, meaning "three cities". For it is divided into three by streams and rivers and connected as many times by bridges and mills. The king's castle can be seen to the north [...]."
The view of Ribe shows a sea of roofs, from which a number of buildings stand out: on the left the Gothic Sankta Catharinae Kirke, in the centre the cathedral (I), frequently modified since its original construction from 1150 to 1250, and on the right the palace of Riberhus, built by King Nils at the start of the 12th century. All that is visible of the castle today are a few remains and a statue of Queen Dagmar, who lived in the castle, was greatly loved by the Danish people and was canonized for her charity and good works.
When Scandinavia's first church was built in Ribe around AD 860, on the site now occupied by the cathedral, the town was already a major centre of trade and maintained links with northern Germany, England and the Netherlands. Despite suffering numerous setbacks in the form of plague epidemics, fires and storm tides, at the end of the 15th century Ribe was still an important medium-sized town. Over the course of the 16th century, however, its influence upon Danish maritime trade waned. (Taschen)

Reference: Van der Krogt 4, Taschen