Breaking - Fire Claims Danish Landmark
400 years of Danish history has gone up in flames this morning. In a tragedy that is being described as Denmark’s Notre Dame, referring to the fire that claimed a Parisian landmark in 2019, flames have caused catastrophic damage to Børsen, one of the oldest buildings in Copenhagen. The fire even toppled the iconic twisting dragon tail spire, one of the most recognizable sights in the city.
This is the moment the Dragespir (Dragon spire) crashed to the ground as caught on video by national broadcaster DR.
The building has been undergoing extensive restoration and construction efforts for the last six months. The cause of the fire is unknown but workers were busy on the roof and the surrounding scaffolding at the time. Børge Nielsen A/S, the company doing the work, said that all of its workers had been rescued and accounted for.
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Denmark’s Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt is hailing workers, emergency responders, and even pedestrians passing by who ran into the burning building to save as much invaluable artwork and other historic treasures as they could.
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About 90 soldiers from the Royal Guard stationed nearby also dropped what they were doing and raced to the scene to help.
The Danish Armed Forces says some of the soldiers were deployed to help with traffic while 40 others immediately began rescuing what artwork and other valuables they could from the southern part of the building.
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Emergency responders said that Børsen’s copper roof made fighting the flames extremely difficult.
Hovedstadens Beredskab Emergency Management Director Jakob Vedsted Andersen:
“The copper roof is like a lid on top of the building. It's really nice to look at, but from a fire point of view, it holds a lot of heat.”
Another problem was the construction scaffolding around the building that obstructed firefighting efforts and allowed the flames to spread.
“The scaffolding is part of the building site that has been, and we have to work around that. This makes the effort somewhat more difficult than if it had not been there.”
Andersen added that the fire seems to have been most intense around the dragon tail spire so that will be a focal point when the investigation begins to determine what started the fire.
About 200 firefighters are battling the flames and Andersen says that most of the interior of the building has been destroyed. He says they are now fighting to keep the exterior walls intact but there are no guarantees they will be successful. The hope is that firefighters can gain control of the fire quickly. Either way, they will be on scene for at least the next 24 hours.
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King Frederik X posted a message on the Danish Royal House Instagram account to lament the terrible fire at Børsen and to thank everyone who responded to fight the flames and save what they could.
“This morning we woke up to a sad sight, as smoke over Copenhagen bore witness to the devastating fire at the Stock Exchange. An important part of our architectural and cultural heritage was and continues to be in flames.
For 400 years, Christian IV’s building Børsen has been a significant landmark for Copenhagen. Through generations, the characteristic dragon spire has helped define Copenhagen as the city of spires.
Until today we have considered the historic building as a beautiful symbol of our capital and a building that we as a nation have been proud of.
The Queen and I would like to thank all of those who since early this morning have ensured that no one has been injured and who have fought to save as much as possible of both the building as well as the many cultural treasures and works of art that Børsen contains.”
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“It is a tragedy.”
Dansk Erhverv (the Danish Chamber of Commerce) is headquartered at Børsen and owns the historic building. At a noon press conference Director Brian Mikkelsen says it has been an emotional day for himself and his staff.
“It is our cultural and social history that is now burning. It's one of the worst days of my life. I can't bear to think about it at all, and my colleagues feel the same way. People stand and cry. Now it is all about saving what can be saved and that no one gets hurt.”
Mikkelsen says it has also been incredibly moving to see so many people stop to help, offer a kind word, and even run into the burning building to save what they could.
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Børsen was built in the early 1600s during the reign of King Christian IV who intended it to be the center of Northern European trade and commerce. The dragon tail spire, three tails twisting to a peak, was symbolic of the three Nordic nations of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden that made up the foundation of the Danish empire of the time.
