Copenhagens Historic Old Stock Exchange Engulfed in Flames
Posted by admin on 2024-04-19 |
A devastating fire
swept through Copenhagen’s Old Stock Exchange, Borsen, a renowned landmark in
the Danish capital, on Tuesday, completely engulfing its distinctive spire,
which ultimately collapsed.
The Borsen, dating
back to the 17th Century, stands as one of the city’s most ancient structures.
Onlookers were shocked as the iconic spire, adorned with four dragons whose
tails formed a spear and three crowns representing Denmark's close connections
with Norway and Sweden, succumbed to the flames.
Footages showed huge
plumes of black smoke billowing from the Copenhagen landmark as emergency
responders worked below.
The Incident
The fire began at
around 8.30 a.m. local time (2.30 a.m. ET) Tuesday, a Copenhagen fire
department chief told CNN. Shortly before 11 a.m., he said nearly half of the
building had been destroyed by fire.
Copenhagen police
advised the public to steer clear of the area, assuring that no injuries had
been reported.
People were in the
building when the fire started but they were all evacuated, said a police
spokesperson who added that military personnel were at the scene to support
fire-fighting efforts.
The exact cause of
the fire remains unknown, but emergency services noted that the ongoing
renovation, with extensive scaffolding around the building, complicated their
operations. Officials believe that the fire was most intense around the tower
section of the building.
Reactions
Denmark’s Culture
Minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, lamented the loss of 400 years of Danish
cultural heritage consumed by the flames.
King Frederik X said
the fire was a “sad sight” for such an important part of Denmark’s cultural
heritage: its characteristic dragon spire had helped define Copenhagen.
The building is a
stone’s throw from Denmark’s parliament, the Folketing, housed in the old royal
palace of Christiansborg castle. The old stock exchange was being renovated and
had been shrouded in scaffolding and protective plastic covering. Currently, it
serves as the home of the Danish chamber of commerce, which described the
scenes on Tuesday morning as deeply distressing.
The Dutch Renaissance-style building on the city’s
Slotsholmen, or palace island, was commissioned by Denmark’s King Christian IV
with the aim of turning Copenhagen into a major trading centre.
