Passers-by helped save some of Denmark’s most valuable paintings from Copenhagen's 17th-century Boersen building—the city's former stock exchange—as it was consumed by fire today (16 April).
In what the Danish defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, described as the country’s “Notre Dame moment”, the building caught fire while undergoing renovation, five years and a day after the great Parisian cathedral went up in flames.
The Boersen, one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings, housed one of the country’s most important art collections, including works by the 19th-century Danish Norwegian artist Peder Severin Krøyer, which were carried to safety by passers-by, security staff and local museum curators.
The Danish culture minister, Jakon Engel-Schmidt, said it was touching to see passers-by helping emergency services “to save art treasures and iconic images from the burning building”. Denmark's National Museum sent 25 employees to the scene to help evacuate cultural artefacts and paintings.
A sequence of images shows how the Dragon Spire of the early 17th-century Boersen, in Copenhagen, burned before collapsing into the street below Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo
"We are saving everything we possibly can," Jakob Vedsted Andersen, Copenhagen's fire department chief, told reporters. "Furniture, floor partitions and everything that could burn has been affected by the fire," he said. Several hundred works were rescued and taken into storage under escort, according to Camilla Jul Bastholm from Denmark's National Museum.
The building was constructed in 1615 and is known for its famous 184ft Dragon Spire made up of four intertwined dragon tails, a symbolic reference to the hoard of gold generated in the former stock exchange, the country’s financial centre. Videos on social media showed the spire crashing to the ground next to a fire engine after being engulfed in flames. Ulla Kjaer, senior researcher at the National Museum of Denmark, told Reuters: “This spire is absolutely iconic and there is no other like it in the world.”
The 17th-century Boersen (top), with its celebrated Dragon Spire, in 2019, and the building ablaze today Linda Kastrup, Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP. AP/ Alamy Stock Images
The building is at present the headquarters of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, whose director, Brian Mikkelsen, was among those helping to rescue artefacts from the building. He said: “Everybody is crying at the Danish Chamber of Commerce right now. It’s their workplace, but also their history.”
The cause of the fire, which was first reported at 7.30am, was not immediately known. Although ambulances were called to the scene, no casualties have been reported. Part of the neighbouring parliament building was evacuated as a precaution.
The fire service told reporters that the scaffolding put up around the building during renovations had made it more difficult for firefighters to reach the flames and that the building’s copper roof was sustaining the heat, making some parts of the structure too dangerous to enter.
Nicolai Bo Andersen, an architect and professor at the Royal Danish Academy, said: "The building is iconic and it is one of the oldest listed buildings we have. Even if many don’t know the exact history or architectural significance, everybody knows it because it is so special.
"In fact, all of our surroundings, whether natural or built, have an aesthetic effect on us. Even if they do not move, they can easily move us. In addition, buildings convey strong cultural historic meanings and values embedded in the stones."
Denmark’s King Frederik wrote on Instagram: “An important part of our architectural heritage was and still is in flames. For generations, the characteristic dragon spire has helped to characterise Copenhagen as the ‘city of towers’.”
The mayor of Copenhagen, together with six district mayors, issued a statement calling for the restoration of the Dutch Renaissance building. In the joint statement, they said: “It's an absolutely terrible day. The stock exchange is not just an important part of Denmark's entire cultural history. The building represents so much more, not least craftsmanship quality and traditions.” They added: “The dragons were supposed to protect from enemies and fire, and they have succeeded—until today. We cannot do without the stock exchange. Now is the time to show what we're made of.”
Engel-Schmidt said it was too early to talk about rebuilding, but he posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he “will do everything I can so that the dragon spire will once again tower over Copenhagen".