Denmark: fire at the old Copenhagen Stock Exchange under control

The emergency services announced Tuesday afternoon to bring under control the fire at the old Copenhagen Stock Exchange, dating from the 17th century and which was destroyed. 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 were recovered,” the director of the emergency services, Jakob Vedsted Andersen, told the press. specifying that approximately half of the building had burned.

“We are in full post-extinction work”, he added, declaring around 4:00 p.m. that the 'fire was “under control”.

The iconic 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 (05:30 a.m. GMT) to save the structure of the building where renovation work was underway to celebrate the 400th anniversary of its opening.

L' 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.< /p>

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

– “Notre +Notre Dame+” –

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

The old Copenhagen Stock Exchange ravaged by fire © AFP – Julia Han JANICKI, Hervé BOUILLY

Her mother, Queen Margrethe, has canceled part of her 84th birthday celebrations which she is celebrating this Tuesday.

“It hurts to the soul of the Danes, years of history are consumed in 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 confided moved to AFP.

-Copper roof-

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

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

Firefighters battle the fire at the old Copenhagen Stock Exchange on April 16, 2024. © Ritzau Scanpix – Ida Marie Odgaard

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

The spire of the old Copenhagen Stock Exchange destroyed by fire, April 16, 2024 © Ritzau Scanpix – Ida Marie Odgaard

“I have no words. It's a 400-year-old building that survived all the other fires that ravaged Copenhagen, it's a terrible loss”, lamented one 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 it is why we will also do everything we can to rebuild it here,” she added.

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

The old Copenhagen Stock Exchange, January 28, 2019 © Ritzau Scanpix – LINDA KASTRUP

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

< p>Commissioned by King Christian IV, the Copenhagen Stock Exchange was built between 1619 and 1640, constituting one of the oldest buildings in the city.

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