Denmark | Fire at Copenhagen’s Old Stock Exchange under control

(Copenhagen) Emergency services announced on Tuesday afternoon that they had brought the fire at the old Copenhagen Stock Exchange, dating from the 17th century, under control and which was largely ravaged by flames in the morning.

“A large part of the Stock Exchange was damaged by the fire. But a large part of the valuables have been recovered,” the director of rescue services, Jakob Vedsted Andersen, told the press, adding that around half of the building had burned.

“We are in the middle of extinguishing work,” he added, declaring around 4 p.m. that the fire was “under control”.

The emblematic spire of the building, 54 meters high, collapsed in the flames early in the morning in front of the stunned Danes. Firefighters had been trying since 7:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. Eastern time) to save the structure of the building where renovation work was underway to celebrate the 400th^e anniversary of its opening.

The fire broke out for a still unknown reason under the roof, according to emergency services who dispatched around a hundred firefighters to the site, while the police are still blocking parts of the capital to traffic.

The police, who have not yet had access to the building and considered that it was “too early” to explain the reasons for the disaster.

A must-see building in Copenhagen, the Old Stock Exchange also houses a vast collection of art works.

“Some historic buildings, almost entirely made of wood, are incredibly fragile, and I think it is difficult to protect yourself 100%” against fires, said earlier an official of the national museum, Mads Damsbo.

The fire caused no injuries and there is no risk of spread to other buildings.

“Our “Our Lady””

“We woke up to a sad sight,” Danish King Frederik X said in a statement, stressing that “an important part of our architectural heritage was and still is in flames.”

His mother, Queen Margrethe, canceled part of her 84th celebrations^e birthday which she celebrates this Tuesday.

“It hurts the soul of the Danes, years of history are consumed in the flames,” added Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to Danish public television.

A local resident, Elisabeth Moltke, 45, came to witness the disaster: “it’s our Notre-Dame, it’s our national treasure,” she told AFP, moved.

Copper roof

Many trucks surrounded the building which now houses the Danish Chamber of Commerce, a stone’s throw from Parliament and the seat of government.

“It’s a copper roof, and it’s simply impossible to get in,” the rescue director said earlier. “The fire therefore had plenty of time to intensify and spread throughout the building.”

“400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames,” lamented Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt on the social network

Danish army forces participated in the rescue of the works.

“We have secured several hundred works of art by Børsen. Due to their high value, they were transported under police escort to the reserves of the National Museum of Denmark, where they will be examined, explained an official of the National Museum of Denmark, Camilla Jul Bastholm.

Reconstruction

“I don’t have the words. It’s a 400-year-old building that survived all the other fires that ravaged Copenhagen, it’s a terrible loss,” said resident Carsten Rose Lundberg.

Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Haestorp Andersen has already announced that together with the Chamber of Commerce they will “try to rebuild the building”.

The building is part of “the history of the construction of our city, a history that we cannot leave in a sea of ​​flames, and that is why we will also do everything we can to rebuild it here,” she added.

“Whatever happens, we will rebuild Børsen,” assured the general director of the chamber of commerce, Brian Mikkelsen.

In the morning, several people were filmed and photographed saving works, including a painting of the building, according to Danish media footage.

Commissioned by King Christian IV, the Copenhagen Stock Exchange was built between 1619 and 1640, making it one of the oldest buildings in the city.