At 7.36 am on 16 April 2024, the Queen of Denmark’s birthday, the alarm centre received a report of a fire at Børsen. For 400 years fire in the old stock exchange building had been avoided. The city has burned down around Børsen twice. Christiansborg Palace across the Palace Square has too. Børsen avoided shells from British mortars in 1807, saboteurs in the canal and British aeroplanes in 1943. There have been small fires in Børsen on several occasions, but without serious consequences.

The fire alarm quickly alerted everyone in the building, both tradesmen and the employees of Dansk Erhverv, who had just begun to arrive at work. Miraculously, there were no injuries in connection with the fire.

The fire brigade and response teams arrived at Børsen precisely 3 minutes after the alarm sounded. The flames appeared to have taken hold of the tower on the side facing the

Palace Square. Just after 8.00 am the flames burst through the roof and up the Dragon Spire designed by Ludvig Heidritter, the master of fireworks. 

Photo: Asger Ladefoged, Ritzau Scanpix

Art and Cultural Heritage
Inside the building there was hectic activity. Employees and passers-by came running to help save as much of the building’s cultural heritage as humanly possible.

Some of the most important works that were saved are PS Krøyer’s painting “Copenhagen’s Stock Exchange”, Lorenz Frølich’s allegorical portraits, and Jens Juel’s paintings of the 18th century businessmen De Connick and Deuntzfeldt. There are model ships, faïence, porcelain, silverware, paintings and curious objects, which all, like the individual stones of a mosaic, contribute to a grand narrative about 400 years of Danish history.

Several of the art objects were either bolted down or too heavy to be quickly carried outside. Armed with crowbars and axes, firefighters and functionaries hammered away at the fastenings of Frølich’s life-size charcoal drawings. Around 9.15, a little under 100 soldiers from the Rosenborg Barracks arrived at the Palace Square. Guardsmen from the Royal Life Guard who were not on duty had run the 1.5 km from the Rosenborggade street to the fire, in order to assist in the evacuation of the building.

The vast majority of the art and historical objects in the building were saved. The paintings have been sent to conservators at the National Museum of Denmark, while several busts and other materials have been placed in the neighbouring building — Privatbanken’s former headquarters — for safe keeping.

Rebuilding and Continued Restoration
“Børsen will be rebuilt. No matter what.” The very same day, Brian Mikkelsen confirmed that Børsen will be rebuilt.

Extensive restoration and rebuilding work now awaits. Not only in the part of Børsen that burned down, but also in the surviving parts, which have been exposed to large amounts of water. Børsen was the first building in Denmark to be granted protected status, and is part of the country’s common cultural heritage. The rebuilding work and the continued restoration will happen in close collaboration with the preservation authorities. Several years will pass before Børsen stands in all its glory once more.