The old stock exchange in Copenhagen is on fire: On Tuesday morning, a huge fire broke out in Børshuset on the Copenhagen island of Slotholmen. Shortly before eight, smoke rose, and soon flames shot up, which ate through the centuries-old timbers extremely quickly. From eight in the morning, all news channels showed the burning building, at 8.30 a.m. the slim dragon tower collapsed, and shortly after ten o’clock parts of the roof collapsed.
The association was immediately there for all Danes: “Our Notre Dame” was the headline in the newspaper Berlinsque, in reference to the devastating fire that destroyed the Gothic church in central Paris – almost five years ago to the day, on April 15, 2019. Hundreds of Copenhageners who had stopped in front of the Børsen on their way to work stared into the flames, many screamed as the tower collapsed. “These are terrible images that we see in the morning,” wrote Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt on X. “400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames.”
A landmark burns: A man reacts emotionally when he sees the Old Stock Exchange in Copenhagen in flames.
(Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/dpa)
The Børsen is the former stock exchange, a Renaissance building commissioned by Christian IV, which was completed in 1625 and was supposed to reopen completely renovated for the 400th birthday. Ironically, it was the first building to be listed as a historical monument in Denmark.
It is still unclear what caused the fire; the fire is far from under control, especially since extinguishing work is made difficult by all the scaffolding around it. According to a firefighter, the fire quickly spread to all floors through various elevator shafts. The many wooden structures act like fire accelerators and the copper roof does not allow the heat to escape.
Extinguishing work is made more difficult by all the scaffolding around the building, which is currently being renovated.
(Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/dpa)
Since the building has accumulated important works of art over the centuries, firefighters and building staff began to bring the pictures to safety on Tuesday morning by unceremoniously carrying them across the street to Christiansborg, where the parliament, the Supreme Court, the The Prime Minister’s office and some of the royal family’s representative rooms are located. The probably most important painting “From the Copenhagen Stock Exchange” by PS Kroyer was saved. The island of Slotsholmen was closed to traffic and some buildings, including the Ministry of Finance, were evacuated as a precaution.