Denmark
The serious fire in the seventeenth-century Børsen, in the center of the Danish capital Copenhagen, is under control. But about half of the historic stock exchange building would have been lost. The iconic spire has also collapsed.
The Børsen dates from 1625, making it one of the oldest buildings in the city. The old stock exchange building, which now houses the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce, caught fire around 8 am on Tuesday morning. Half an hour later the tower collapsed. The cause of the fire is not yet clear, but renovation work was underway. The building was completely covered in scaffolding.
The fire brigade and police arrived en masse – even soldiers were called – but the fire was difficult to control. “The facades are still standing, but they are starting to collapse under the influence of the fire,” Jakob Vedsted Andersen, chief of the emergency services, said on Tuesday afternoon. In the meantime, the fire is under control.
Chamber of Commerce CEO Brian Mikkelsen also took action. He said at least half of the building was destroyed by the fire. He says the stock exchange must be rebuilt at all costs.
Meanwhile, the Danes made frantic efforts to rescue art and historical objects from the building. Passers-by also helped carry away paintings and other works. “We’re saving what we can,” Andersen said. The Danish National Museum said it had sent 25 employees to help.
Images show how various people carry away the painting ‘Fra Københavns Børs’, which is more than four meters wide. Peder Severin Krøyer painted it in 1895, after an association of merchants bought the building. For a small fee, men from the financial world could see themselves depicted in the recently renovated stock exchange building.
“Dit is eleven Notre-Dame”
Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said the fire destroyed 400 years of cultural heritage. Local craftsman Henrik Grage spoke on Danish television about a tragic day. “This is our Notre-Dame,” he said, referring to the fire that destroyed the spire and much of the roof of the Paris cathedral five years ago.
© epa-efe
Danish King Frederik also reacted with dismay to the fire. “We woke up to a sad sight,” the king wrote in a message on social media. “An important part of our architectural heritage is on fire.” He calls the building an important landmark for Copenhagen. “Until today, we saw the historic building as a beautiful symbol of our capital and a building that we as a country were proud of.”
The iconic dragon tower on the stock exchange building did not survive the fire. For the Danes, it was an indispensable part of the skyline of their capital. Four intertwined dragon tails rose as high as 200 feet. According to legend, they guarded the building against enemy attacks and fires. The stock exchange building had been spared several times from serious fires in neighboring buildings, until disaster struck on Tuesday.