A fire devastated the old Copenhagen Stock Exchange on Tuesday, April 16, one of the best-known buildings in the Danish capital, engulfing its spire, which collapsed in a scene reminiscent of the fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2019. .
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The historic building, whose spire is shaped like the tails of four intertwined dragons, was being renovated and covered in scaffolding when the fire broke out.
The head of the Copenhagen fire brigade, Jakob Vedsted Andersen, told the press that parts of the roof had collapsed and the fire had spread to several floors of the building.
“This is our Notre-Dame. It is a national treasure,” Elisabeth Moltke, an emotional 45-year-old local resident, as she watched the flames.
“There are a lot of old, original Danish paintings. I've been there several times and it's a magnificent building, so I'm very excited.”
The fire started around 7:30 a.m. local time (05:30 GMT) under the copper roof of the red brick building, according to emergency services, while more than a hundred firefighters responded to the scene.
The spire broke and fell onto the street. Dramatic photographs showed orange flames and huge plumes of black smoke billowing from the roof.
Fire trucks surrounded the building, covered in scaffolding and wrapped in a tarp, which today houses the Danish Chamber of Commerce.
Ambulances responded to the scene, but there were no casualties. A spokesman for the company working on the building's renovation said all the carpenters working on the roof had left.
Until 90 members of an army unit were also deployed from a nearby base to cordon off the area and “secure valuables,” Denmark's armed forces said.
King Frederik wrote on Instagram that they “woke up to a sad sight” of “an important part of our architectural heritage” destroyed by flames.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen wrote that “irreplaceable cultural heritage” and “a piece of Danish history is on fire.”
“It hurts to see it,” Frederiksen wrote on Instagram.
The Stock Exchange is located a stone's throw from the Parliament and seat of the country's Government, Christiansborg.
Hard to reach
“It's a copper roof, and it's simply impossible to get under that roof, so the fire has a lot of time to gain intensity,” fire chief Andersen told the Ritzau news agency, adding that the fire had spread. down into the building.
The Boersen Building, commissioned by King Christian IV and built between 1619 and 1640, is one of the oldest and best-known monuments in Copenhagen.
It houses a vast art collection and is being renovated to celebrate its 400th anniversary.
“Terrific images from Boersen this morning. 400 years of Danish cultural heritage going up in flames,” Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt wrote in a post on X.
The images recalled the disaster of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, almost five years ago, the day it was devastated by a fire.
Spectators could not hold back their tears as they saw the devastation.
“I have no words… It's a 400-year-old building that has survived all the other fires that have devastated Copenhagen,” said Chamber of Commerce employee Carsten Lundberg.
“It's a horrible loss,” Lundberg told AFP, adding that what was inside were “things you can't put a price on… Priceless paintings and statues.”
Rush to save art
Engel-Schmidt said she had been moved to see employees, first responders and residents working to “rescue art treasures and iconic paintings from the burning building.”
Images from the scene showed several people rescuing works of art, including a painting from the building.
Danish army forces also went to the site to try to evacuate the works of art.
“We are currently working hard to save our historic Boersen art,” the Chamber of Commerce said in a post on X.
Police reported that they had blocked off some areas of the city center as part of the firefighting efforts.
This article was adapted from its original in English
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