On the morning of April 16, 2024, around 7.30 am, a violent fire it flared up within this historic 17th century palacewhich until the 1970s hosted the Copenhagen Stock Exchangeand is currently home to the Chamber of Commerce Danish.
The historic building, located next to the Danish Parliament (Christiansborg Palace), is one of the oldest in the Danish capital. The famous one spire, over 50 meters high, collapsed after being engulfed in flames.
Numerous rescue teams (around 120 firefighters and 60 members of the army) intervened on site trying to save the works of art contained inside the building.
A massive restoration site was underway in the building, starting in 2022. The causes of the fire are still unknown.
The images bring back memories of another terrible accident. Exactly five years ago, between 15 and 16 April 2019, a fire heavily damaged the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
The Copenhagen Stock Exchange is in flames, the spire collapses
Like at Notre-Dame: the fire at the former Copenhagen Stock Exchange broke out in the roof
As reported by the Danish news agency Ritzau, Jakob Vedsted Andersen, Director of Emergency Management in Copenhagen he has declared: “The flames started under the roof. It’s a copper-clad roof and it’s simply impossible to get under it, so the flames had plenty of time to develop an intensity that spread through the building.”
The fire affected approximately 50% of the building, a part of the roof collapsed together with the famous Dragon Spire.
Around 4.30 pm, as declared by the Danish emergency services themselves, the fire at the Old Stock Exchange in Copenhagen was already “under control”. “There is no risk to other buildings, but it is expected that the fire brigade will take 24 hours to make the place safe,” added Jakob Vedsted Andersen.
Børsen: the Stock Exchange building in Copenhagen
Located on the island of Slotsholmen in Copenhagen, this historic building in the heart of the Danish capital was commissioned by Christian IV of Denmark, between 1619 and 1640, from architects Lorenz van Steenwinckel and Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger.
The building is considered one of the best examples of Dutch Renaissance in Denmark.
A distinctive architectural element in the skyline and in the city’s memory was the Dragon Spire, so called because of its shape which resembled four dragon tails joined together. Over 50 meters high, unfortunately the spire collapsed following a terrible fire that broke out in the building on the morning of April 16, 2024.
The sandstone and timber came from Gotland (island in south-eastern Sweden), the bricks from Holland and the marble columns from our Tuscan quarries.
In 1623, King Christian IV of Denmark, dissatisfied with the work that was transforming the building into something more like a warehouse than a “royal” building, ordered the architect to rebuild the roof and add 2 large ornamental gables, 9 small gables and 74 dormer windows. It was Christian IV himself who ordered the construction of the tower with the high lead spire, surmounted by the four dragons with intertwined tails.
It is said that the dragons placed on the roof had the task of protecting the Stock Exchange Palace from enemies and fire.
Restoration site of the Stock Exchange building in Copenhagen
With a donation of 40 million Danish crowns from the AP Møller Support Fund, 25 million Danish crowns from the Augustinus Foundation, the Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the philanthropic association Realdania, 10 million Danish crowns from the Salling Foundation and further contributions, a November 2022 they had been restoration work has begun on the Stock Exchange Building (Børsen) in Copenhagen.
The large construction site concerned the restoration of the roof, walls and spire of the building.
“Here, skilled craftsmen work to replace the old copper roof with a gleaming new one, which over time will regain its familiar green color. But the restoration of Copenhagen’s iconic stock exchange building doesn’t stop at the gutters. Soon, the entire facade of the building will light up as the brickwork is restored to the original Dutch Renaissance style and the building’s many sandstone figures and faces are given new life.” So reports the page dedicated to Restaur of the Børsen on the official website of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, which has owned the building since 1857.
Leading the restoration project
Leif Hansen Arkitekter, architectural firm specialized in the conservation and restoration of historic buildings.
As reported in the brochure dedicated to the restoration of the building – available in the attachments section at the end of the article and containing a rich collection of construction site images – the main focus of the intervention concerned the roofing of the building.
The copper claddingwith over 140 years of history, has been removed with great attention to be melted down and reused. The old subfloor planking was highly irregular. So it was decided to replace it with a new pine decking coming from Finland, north of the Arctic Circle. The installation of the new planking and copper cladding was carried out entirely with the use of manual tools, reflecting the manufacturing method used over a century ago.
There complex wooden structure of the roofdating back to the building’s construction period (1620-1624), was preserved. The wood, despite being 550 years old, was in a good state of preservation.
In some places, the inclination of the roof of the Stock Exchange Building reached 63 degrees.
A restoration work which took place in 1883, replaced the old Renaissance-style bricks with modern bricks laid in 3-6 cm thick layer of cement mortar. It was around that time that the building lost its original appearance. The ongoing restoration project had the task of correcting this error.
On the Leif Hansen Arkitekter website, regarding interventions on the walls, we also read that: “It has been proven that moisture penetrating the masonry from underground cannot pass through the existing wall facing and evaporate. Instead, moisture migrates into the sandstone works and causes them to deteriorate much faster than before the outermost layer of bricks was replaced.”
The The roof of the Stock Exchange Building originally had a lead lining, the same material used to forge cannonballs. During the Swedish siege of Copenhagen in 1658-59, some of the lining was used to produce munitions to repel attacks. Later, Børsen’s roof had patches that were repaired with a mixture of tin and tiles. It was only in 1883 that the roof of the Stock Exchange was renovated, taking on its current appearance.
Over the years, the Stock Exchange Palace has become an important center for the development of both the capital and the entire country, both from a physical and intellectual point of view. Originally, until the 19th century, the Stock Exchange operated as a trading center. Subsequently, until 1974, the building housed the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. Today, owned by Dansk Erhverv (Chamber of Commerce), the structure is dedicated to offices and serves as the headquarters for one of the most influential business and employer organizations in the country.
Mattarella expresses closeness to King Frederick X of Denmark
“I would like to express, on behalf of all Italians and myself, my deep sympathy with your country for the serious fire that engulfed the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, causing enormous damage also to the famous spire of the building“. Thus the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in a message sent to King Frederick X of Denmark.
Historical sources: taken from
website of the Danish Chamber of Commerce
Article being updated
Tags: Fire devastates historic Stock Exchange building Copenhagen spire part roof collapse Articles
