Fire engulfs Copenhagen’s historic stock exchange in city’s ‘Notre Dame moment’
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Firefighters at Copenhagen’s historic former stock exchange were yesterday battling a huge blaze that had engulfed the 17th-century building’s roof, toppled its distinctive spire and threatened one of Denmark’s most valuable art collections.
“We are witnessing a terrible spectacle. The Børsen is on fire,” the Chamber of Commerce, which occupies the building next to Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish parliament, wrote on X. “Everyone is asked to stay away.”
Dramatic footage showed huge plumes of black smoke rising from the Dutch Renaissance-style building, which was undergoing renovation and clad in scaffolding. Police said they had blocked off a main road and part of the city centre.
Copenhagen’s fire service said the blaze was reported at 7.30am. The extensive scaffolding around the building was making it significantly harder to tackle the flames, it said, while the Børsen’s copper roof was trapping the heat.
“The extinguishing work is very difficult,” said a fire service spokesperson, Jakob Vedsted Andersen, yesterday, adding that there were substantial areas of the building that firefighters could not yet access because it was too dangerous.
Parts of the roof had collapsed and the fire had spread to several floors, he said. About 120 people were fighting the fire and about 90 conscripts from the Royal Life Guards, an army unit, were also helping to cordon off the site and secure valuables inside, local media reported.
The Børsen, commissioned by King Christian IV and built between 1619 and 1640, was topped by a 56-metre (184ft) spire in the shape of the tails of four dragons entwined. The building housed Denmark’s stock exchange until 1974.
King Frederik X said Denmark’s royal family woke up to the sad sight of “part of our architectural heritage” being destroyed, while the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said irreplaceable cultural heritage and a piece of Danish history was on fire.
The deputy prime minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, described the blaze as “our own Notre-Dame moment”, referring to the devastating blaze that destroyed the roof and spire of the medieval Paris cathedral in April 2019, five years ago almost to the day.
People were seen rushing in and out of the building carrying works of art to safety, and Danish media reported an annexe of the parliament and several ministries nearby, including the finance ministry, had been evacuated.
The head of the Chamber of Commerce, Brian Mikkelsen, was among those helping to save historic paintings from the building. The pictures were carried to the nearby parliament and the Danish National Archives, which sent 25 staff to help with the rescue operation.
“We have been able to rescue a lot,” Mikkelsen told reporters, adding that many works had already been removed from the Børsen for the renovation. The blaze was nonetheless a national disaster, he said.
The Børsen holds one of the country’s most valuable collections of art, including the iconic 1895 painting of From Copenhagen Stock Exchange, by the 19th-century Danish-Norwegian artist Peder Severin Krøyer, which was seen being carried to safety by eight people.
Tommy Laursen, of the Copenhagen police, said it was too early to say what caused the Børsen fire and police would not be able to enter the building for a few days.