Copenhagen’s old stock exchange burns

The Old Stock Exchange, the Børshuset, was completed in 1625 and was the first building in Denmark to be listed as a historical monument. The landmark of the building and the city, the Dragon Tower, collapsed at 8.30 a.m., and shortly afterwards parts of the roof also gave way. Many Copenhageners on their way to work filmed the fire and when the tower collapsed, an outcry went up through the crowd. The Danish Minister of Culture, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, wrote on X “400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames”. The building houses many works of art, which were brought to safety by firefighters and staff by simply carrying them across the street and taking them to the surrounding buildings. The paintings were moved to Christiansborg, the Parliament, the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister’s office and representative rooms of the Royal Household. The island of Slotsholmen was closed to traffic and some buildings were also evacuated.

The building, which was commissioned by King Christian IV, was to be reopened next year on the occasion of its 400th birthday following renovation work. The scaffolding is currently making fire-fighting work more difficult. The fire spread rapidly through the various elevator shafts. There are many wooden structures inside the building that accelerate the fire and the copper roof prevents the heat from escaping. The fire department has not yet got the flames under control and the cause of the fire is also unclear. In reference to the Notre Dame fire in 2019, the Danish newspaper Berlingske ran the headline “Our Notre Dame”.